An Indian multinational information technology services provider company, HCLTech has recently changed its HR policy related to employee compensation.
The company has revised its Engagement Performance Bonus (EPB) a performance-linked variable pay. EPB is a part of the variable pay of the employees.
The company has now decided to pay EPB on a quarterly basis instead of monthly. that will reduce the monthly salary of employees. And as a policy change, also EPB will not be given to the employees present on the bench.
E-Mail Send to Employees
According to a report in Business Today, the company has given information to employees through email and said, “Employees will be paid EPB basis the Quarterly Manager Feedback in My Performance effective 1st April 2023. Key performance parameters and targets will be defined. At the end of every quarter, a score-based performance review will be triggered. Employees on the bench will not be eligible for EPB payout for the period they are on the bench.”
A HCLTech spokesperson told to media, “At HCLTech, we have always offered an Engagement “Performance” Bonus (EPB) as part of our total compensation package up to the E3 band. The EPB is typically 3-4 percent of total compensation, and the average payout is approximately 80 percent.”
“Our employment contract identifies EPB as performance-linked variable pay, and this is governed by company policy. To support employees during the pandemic, the company made a policy exception and paid 100% EPB irrespective of performance”, the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson further said, “Post-pandemic, the company is reverting to the original policy. This has been communicated to our employees.”
Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate Action
Employee union NITES has filed a complaint against the company for the changes in its Engagement Performance Bonus (EPB) policy.
NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja said, “In light of the unfair changes made by HCLTech, NITES has filed a complaint with the Labour Ministry, urging them to take appropriate action to safeguard the interests of IT employees.”
The company reported a net addition of 17,067 employees for the fiscal year 2023, there is a significant drop of around 57.3 percent from the 39,900 employees added in FY22.
The total workforce as on 31 March, 2023 stood at 225,944. The company onboarded over 4,480 freshers in the March quarter.
HCLTech’s current attrition rate stood at was at 19.5%. The LTM Attrition in the previous quarter was 21.7% which was slightly lower as compared to the September quarter of the fiscal year where it was at 23.8 percent.
