TCS Freezes Anniversary Appraisals For Freshers Not Adhering To Work-From-Office Mandate: Report
The final anniversary appraisal process of India's largest IT company follows an annual cycle after an employee completes one-year.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. has reportedly put on hold the final anniversary appraisals for some employees due to non-compliance of work-from-office mandate in previous quarters.
The final anniversary appraisal process of India's largest IT company follows an annual cycle after an employee completes one-year. An email is sent to eligible freshers, and the update is also reflected on the company’s intranet portal, Ultimatix.
"Please note your anniversary appraisal process is completed but not processed further by corporate since you are WFO non-compliant till Q2 FY26 (July 2025 to September 2025). If your anniversary is not committed in January 2025 due to WFO non-compliance in Q3, as a consequence, you will be excluded from the FY26 banding cycle and no performance band will be released," an email reviewed by Times of India said.
TCS requires employees to work from the office five days a week, making it the first major Indian IT firm to take strict action against non-compliance. While other IT companies generally mandate office attendance for only two or three days a week, TCS has linked variable pay to attendance compliance to ensure discipline.
The anniversary appraisal cycle at TCS begins with the formal launch of the process, after which the supervisor prepares the employee’s goal sheet. The employee reviews and submits the goal sheet, followed by a discussion with the appraiser to align on expectations. Performance evaluations are then carried out based on goals achieved over the year, and the final banding results are released accordingly.
The company had discontinued final anniversary appraisals for lateral hires in 2022.
Last year, TCS also revised its work‑from‑office exception policy. Employees in India can cite personal emergencies for up to six days per quarter, with no carry‑forward of unused days.
To address space constraints, staff may submit up to 30 exceptions in a single entry, while network issues can be reported for up to five entries at once. The company has, however, prohibited bulk uploads or backend submissions for requesting attendance exceptions.
