Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has issued relocation notices to more than 2,000 employees across various locations, instructing them to report to their assigned locations within 15 days, according to the IT employees union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES).

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This action follows TCS' recent decision to make it compulsory for employees to work from the office five days a week.

NITES said it had filed a formal complaint with the Ministry of Labour and Employment against TCS.

"NITES has received more than 180 complaints that TCS has been systematically forcing more than 2,000 employees to transfer to different cities without proper notice or consultation, causing immense hardship for them and their families. The company has threatened the employees that failure to comply with the transfer directions will result in disciplinary actions. The company is ignoring all the financial hardship, family disruption, stress and anxiety that these forced transfers cause to employees," said

Harpreet Singh Saluja, President, NITES.

Based on information obtained from emails viewed by CNBC-TV18, employees were given approximately two weeks' notice to relocate to their designated locations. According to the applicable company policies, employees will be eligible for reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses. The distribution of these relocation notices commenced at the end of August.

The emails also mentioned that non-compliance with the relocation directive may result in the initiation of disciplinary measures against the employees.

Further, several managerial position employees told CNBC-TV18 that such shifts happen in the company, especially for freshers who are in training periods when projects come up and employees are assigned teams. Additionally, this is a process that happens once every half-year.

A manager, on the condition of anonymity, mentioned that this time many people in senior positions have also been asked to relocate.

CNBC-TV18 has written to TCS and the copy will be updated when responses are received.

Meanwhile, Saluja mentioned that the emails of some employees who were not able to shift as they were communicating with the HRs and getting no clarity have been revoked.

TCS recently ended the work-from-home policy.

In an internal communication, the company mandated that its workforce should attend office for five days a week starting October 1, 2023. At present employees need to be in the office for only three days a week.

In its FY23 annual report, the company highlighted the importance of returning to the office. The report mentioned that over half of the company's workforce was hired after March 2020, and new employees benefit from physical interactions with senior colleagues and leaders to acculturate and learn from their behaviours and ways of thinking.

(Edited by : Amrita)