- This topic has 53 replies, 27 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 4 months ago by
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UHi everyone,
I’m posting on behalf of my friend who’s facing a difficult situation during their resignation from TCS. They’ve been with the company for close to 3 years and recently resigned due to personal reasons. However, the HR team is now claiming that my friend owes them “excess pay” for the time they were on the bench without a project.Here’s a summary of the situation:
* My friend was released from their project earlier than expected and despite multiple attempts to communicate with HR, they were not assigned a new project.
* My friend was told to mark their timesheet as “unallocated,” which they did diligently.
* HR is now claiming that this period will be considered “excess pay” and needs to be repaid.
* My friend has not received any prior notification or signed documentation regarding this “excess pay” policy.
* My friend has been subjected to harassment, intimidation, and threats during phone calls with the HR team.
* My friend has submitted all their assets and company ID card.
* My friend was unable to relocate to Hyderabad due to personal reasons and requested reallocation, which was not addressed.
* HR is now using their inability to relocate to Hyderabad and attend the office as a reason for the “excess pay” demand.
* My friend constantly emailed HR regarding their issues with visiting the office and requested reallocation.They are extremely stressed and confused. They followed all instructions given to them, and now they are being asked to repay a significant amount of money without any prior warning or legal basis. This is causing them severe mental trauma.
My questions are:
* Has anyone else faced a similar issue with TCS or any other company?
* Is it legal for a company to demand “excess pay” without any prior notification or signed agreement?
* What are my friend’s options in this situation? Should they consult with a lawyer? And also due to the company policies I can’t get the mails I did to Hr’s as proof as this is causing more stress for us.I would really appreciate any advice or support you can offer. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Additional Information from Offer Letter:
* My friend’s offer letter does not mention any policy regarding “excess pay” or repayment of salary for time spent on the bench.
* The offer letter states that they are entitled to all benefits and compensation as long as they are employed by TCS.Current Status:
* We fought back by saying they are mentally harrassing and not providing any information we deserve and said that we have logged the conversations and details.
* So the Hr’s of TCS is insisting on a 3-month salary payback. Still didn’t provide any details though.
* My friend has countered with a 1-month offer due to fear and uncertainty about the situation. Still she didn’t acknowledge on anything saying that she is bound to pay.I’m hoping to find some clarity and support from this community. Thank you again.
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CIf the company didn’t allocate you on a project, that’s their problem! You can’t be expected to bear expenses due to their incompetence.
I guess your best option is to involve an advocate asap! If you are not locked out of the company’s platforms, collect all evidence against the HR & their demands.
Have your advocate draft a legal notice clearly mentioning the HR’s who have been making these demands. Once it’s their neck on the line, the problem will resolve itself.
PS – Make sure to ask for compensation for the legal fees incurred!
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AAlways remember, when you are not in any project. Always fill bench charge code, not the unassigned one.
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UHi thanks for responding
I did mark it as bench code which is also called as unallocated/bench one -
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UEmployees are billed to a code, if you’re in a project u get a project code to enter into a time sheet.
If on bench then there’s a different code.
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CCan you pl share bench code as this info is not available unless you have know how of TCS dirty tricks🙏
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UWhat rubbish! I had worked for 9 years in TCS and this is the first time I have heard this kind of idiotic stuff. There are literally thousands of people on bench in TCS at any point of time some for 8 to 9 months on stretch everyone gets paid salary. Stop posting fairy tales for karma farming.
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UHello
Thanks for responding
I worked in TCS for 4 years too! Gladly moved to a different company neither me nor my friend came across this situation prior to this
We actually are worried and seeking help. I understand the situation where this can be misunderstood or misinterpreted but please do help us out if you have anything to offer. If you still have any contacts left with higher ups and if you could help us out in confirming the same then this would be highly appreciated and helpful for us to fight back. -
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AThis. The only way this happens is if your friend denies taking up projects and did not report in person to the HR (RMG I thing they are called). After 3 reminders HR would put your friend in stop pay. If payroll was already frozen before the stop pay came into effect then finance would claw back any amount paid for the stop pay period.
There is no way HR is going to ask for 1.5yrs salary. I have friends who are struggling to fill positions because people on bench are acting pricey but are actually not even that technically good – and HR isn’t able to do anything more than initiate stop pay or reduce their variable pay/bonus.
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UHi
Actually we talked to hr’s and Rmgs regarding the project as my friend is married she had to move to a different location and requested the same. They asked us to accept the projects situated at the new location.
Even for the projects outside of the location we responded and asked for location leniency.We didn’t face any stop pay period we reached out to them early and asked for resignation as this is not helping out my friend in career wise as she was stuck with no project and location issues.
Thanks for the confidence about HR not being able to do anything will try our best.
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UIt’s not rubbish, it is happening to my cousin as well. HR is asking for 5 months salary back if he leaves, or to continue working without getting paid for next 5 months. Because of this reason only, I found this thread.
If he doesn’t pay back, they will terminate him. Now he is bothered whether this termination will have any impact on his career. Need others advise on it.
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NLooks like it’s issue of not coming to office or reporting to designated locations during WFO. Take all things over email as documentation.
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UThanks for responding
Yes they are portraying this in the same manner but as far as we know and gone through the signed documentation we don’t have any clause of such how this works if we want to further pursue?-
NWants that was communicated across company portal, emails and media that you need to come to office daily? If your friend had missed it it’s not company issue.
BTW looks like they didn’t stopped salary of ur friend after 1,2 month for no show and now suddenly remember u guys exist and not coming in office. Negotiate and get the f out of that company, if you don’t want experience certificate then don’t negotiate and leave directly.
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CDidn’t know TCS can stoop so low.
Get a lawyer. Hope you have proof of this shit behaviour from hr and her/his name too.
Hope we see the case on news about how a person fucked tcs over illegal practices-
UHi thanks for responding
We talked to a lawyer now and sent out a final communication saying no further pursuit of communication without any details or acceptance of the negotiations we counter proposed will not be encouraged as this is causing a serious mental issue to a dependent and unemployed woman.We are confident on the legal signed documents but worried how the internal mail communication can be attained if required to show communications with Hr
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UHi
Thanks for responding
I doubt this would bring much attention apart from a defamation case and information leakage if posted via forums where our personal details can be pinned down
This is another reason why I am posting this instead of my friend who is facing the issue -
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FLook like case of moonlighting.. no one can ask money otherwise…either way if you have experience letter and stuff you can ignore them ..they cannot do anything
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FYou don’t need anything but few things:
1. Joining letter with salary
2. Relieving / experience letter with start date to end date
3. Salary Slips
Just with these 3 documents the lawyer will screw TCS HR to oblivion -
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UDo not worry and throw away the notice or threats, they can’t do anything but they can put black mark on his career when the HR of the new company goes for reference. Hope he got all the relieving letter and experience letter from TCS!
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UHi no they haven’t released any details to us
They are withholding the information and asking us to acknowledge the mail stating we need to pay back for the separation formalities-
UOk, they tell them informally that you may have to approach labour department for harassment during the separation process. Talk to any lawyer and get the opinion first. Do not acknowledge or send any response without consulting the lawyer, if the HR is still adamant on paying the money. Write up the scenario with all facts and matching proofs. Typically, once the salary is paid it is paid, no one can ask for returning the salary unless if it is excess of the agreed amount as per the appointment letter. You keep the copies of all Pay Slips and try to match the salary details of the disputed duration with rest of the year. Try to go through the Appointment letter which is the contract you signed (or the revisions) and look for any such mention of bench period salary as excess pay, if it is there, try to look for the process how it should be handled in the letter. You may need to spend quite a bit of time and effort to get this organised if you want to challenge this with the HR.
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UNAL…
Make anonymous accounts and blast this ordeal on social media. Use AI to draft the content.
The damage to reputation will save others and the manager and Hr will learn their lessons.
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UHi thanks for replying
As much as it sounds sweet to take revenge for us but this won’t help much with our issue
My friend really was scared and tensed about the situation. So anything that can help out is really appreciated.-
UBro, this will help your case and many other cases. Going legally is not a big deal for TCS, they will drag the case for ever..
You may lawyer up no issues, but the cost and time lost is another tale.
Please consider the power of Social Media, it can be used very well in your situation..
Yourself Being a tech savvy person doing things anonymously is not a big task.
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UThe salary your friend got for the time he/she was unallocated was for TCS to able to say they have certain people with certain skills on bench and ready to be pulled into a project. Not having a project is not your responsibility or look out. Call their bluff. It’s time these buffoons come to their senses.
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MRead through the terms of employment carefully – with regard to how bench, relocation and termination will apply. Ask TCS to provide in writing all aspects of their claims with details.
As an employer – TCS can ask you to relocate. The option they have in case you did not agree to re-locate is to terminate you if it was affecting them negatively – which they have not exercised. They will need to provide evidence that they have communicated to you that the salary of time spent on bench would be treated as a loan to be paid back – which was received by you and acknowledged.
Lastly you will need to head to the labour commissioner to file for redressal. So check out who can guide you through how to naviagate that. You will also need an employment certificate from TCS to certify that you worked with them and resigned on whatever date – to help in case you have a new job in the pipeline.
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MTCS demand for “excess pay” appears questionable without explicit contractual support or prior notification. The harassment and withholding of documents further suggest unfair practices. By reviewing the contract, demanding clarification, and escalating through legal channels if needed, your friend can challenge the demand and secure their rightful documents. Engaging a local advocate to draft notices and guide negotiations is advisable to ensure compliance with Indian labor laws and protect your friend’s interests. call 9010787191
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UUpdate 22-04-2025
Apologies for not responding to lot of comments, after seeing surge of the comments and other people who faced/ currently facing the similar issue I thought of sharing what we did for this.Post the last update i.e., 6th March we reached out to a lawyer via online we drafted a legal notice and sent to our HR’s which led to complete black out of communications from the TCS team. We gave the timeline to reply as 7 days but even after 2 weeks they didn’t respond to us.
We decided to give one last try with the HR’s by reaching out ourself before further pressing to court, So we sent a mail highlighting we’ve already sent the legal notice and due to no communication recieved from your end we are inclined to take it further to court and by pressing harrasment charges alongside. If you are intrested in negotiation or finding a resolution amicably for both parties reach out to us by that friday.
Funny enough they responded damn quickly on this within 30 mins! Saying they’ll schedule a call tmrw at our convinent time. My friend jumped on the call and she talked and explained things what we planned and how unethical treatment she got to which they apologised but my friend is a bit cowardice and confused (I was the one who pushed her till now) accepted with 1 month loss of pay (basic salary deduction) but which will be negated by the leave encashments (So at the end she didn’t needed to pay anything but lost half of leave encashment at around 7k), They finally accepted the resignation and today we recieved service letter and FFS details.
Thanks to the community for supporting us and guiding us through.
If someone facing a similar situation feel free to drop a message to me, I’ll try to respond as soon as possible. -
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