Guideline: Grade and Compensation fitment

Purpose
To establish a consistent and non-discriminatory approach for finalising Grade and Compensation for
selected applicants for open positions within TCS

Scope
These guidelines are applicable for the following categories of recruitment:
-

EP

The scope of the guideline is:

-

Overview of TCS Compensation

Explanation of key terms

a. Relevant Experience
b. Grade
c.

Compensation Charts

d. Compensation Components
-

Procedure for fitment using Compensation Charts

Outline
Eligibility
Selected Applicants for permanent full time employment

Provisions (Entitlements/Outcome)
The objective of this document is to provide the steps for deciding the Grade to be assigned to an
applicant and the Compensation package to be offered. TCS has defined Grade and Compensation
fitment charts for this purpose and the procedures section of this document explains in detail how these
charts are to be used. However, in order to understand the procedure better, an Overview of TCS
Compensation and explanation for key terms like Relevant Experience, Grade, Compensation Charts and
Compensation Components are required, which are provided below.
Overview of TCS Compensation
-

Compensation is defined as salary, wages and other monetary benefits payable to an individual in
exchange for services performed by that individual for an employer.

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Compensation for an individual is first decided at the time that an applicant is offered employment in
TCS and takes effect after he/she joins TCS. Post joining the Compensation is revised on a periodic
basis (normally an annual process) based on the employees career progression, performance within
the Organisation and the Organisations overall compensation strategy.

Compensation in TCS is measured as total Cost to Company (CTC) i.e. the total cost that the
company incurs through direct payments to the employee (basic salary, housing allowance, etc.) and
indirect payments towards employee benefits

Explanation of key terms

Following are the factors which decide the Compensation for an applicant at the time of recruitment:
Relevant Experience
-

Relevant experience is defined as that part of an applicants total professional experience which is
relevant to his/her current or future role in TCS.

It is one of the key factors for deciding the Grade fitment and Compensation

The relevant experience of the applicant is decided by the Management reviewer in consultation with
HR and entered in the Management evaluation form.

Grade
-

TCS follows a Grade-based compensation structure.

The grade for fitment is usually decided by relevant experience.

E.g An engineer with 1-4 years of relevant experience is usually fitted at Grade C1, with 4-7 years of
relevant experience is fitted at C2 etc.

Different Grade structures are defined for different dimensions (e.g. Department, Practice/Business
Unit, etc.) and may be revised periodically based on the strategy and needs of the Organisation.
Some examples of Grade structures are provided below:
o

Grade Structure 1(C Grades): CC, HR, IS, Techcom, Corporate Communication/Marketing,

Grade Structure 2(BPO Grades) : BPO

Grade Structure 3(S Grades) : Finance, Admin, Library, Shared Services

Compensation Charts
-

A Compensation Chart is a chart defined time to time which provides all the information required to
map an applicant to a Grade and to decide the Compensation to be paid to him/her

The Compensation charts may change or new charts may be added from time to time depending on
the business requirement.

Timeline of Applicability

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These guidelines are applicable during the offer/ offer negotiation process while finalizing the grade and
compensation of the applicant

Procedure
The procedure for Grade and Compensation fitment of Experienced Professionals is as follows:
Get applicant details
The Recruitment Team gets the following details of the applicant for Grade and Compensation fitment:
-

Relevant Experience (decided by the management interview panel during selection)

Department or Business unit/practice for which the applicant is being recruited

Qualifications and Academic institution of graduation/post-graduation

Assign a Grade to the applicant

The Recruitment Team gets the Relevant Experience from the interview evaluation records to find a
Grade corresponding to the Relevant Experience of the applicant.
Define applicants Compensation
After the applicant is fitted into a Grade, the Compensation is fixed for that Grade and Relevant
Experience.
Negotiate with the applicant and Approve deviations (if any)
1. This step is applicable only for EPs as the compensation incase of trainees is fixed and nonnegotiable
2. The Compensation structure fixed as per the previous step is discussed with the applicant.
Wherever there is a gap wherein the applicants expectations are higher than the assigned Compensation
and it is critical to recruit the applicant to close the requirement, the Recruitment team member tries to
bridge the gap
Communicate the final Compensation to the applicant
Once the Grade and Compensation fitment is completed, The Recruitment team member communicates
the final Compensation to the applicant via email/telephone/ in person and proceeds with the Offer
process.

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APPENDIX A
Grade structure
A sample Grade structure for Computer Consultancy (CC) department is provided and explained below:
Grade
Code

Relevant
Experience*

Designation

Engineering
Graduate

Management
Graduate

Departments:
HR/Marketing/Technical
Communication

0 to < 1 year

ASE-T

MT

MT

C1

1 to <2 years

ASE

ABA/ASA

Executive

C1

2 years to < 3 years

ASE

ABA/ASA

Executive

C1

3 years to < 4years

ASE

ABA/ASA

Executive

C2

4 years to < 5 years

ITA

BA/SA

Assistant Manager

C2

5 years to < 6 years

ITA

BA/SA

Assistant Manager

C2

6 years to < 7 years

ITA

BA/SA

Assistant Manager

C3A

7 years to < 8 years

AST

AST

Manager

C3A

8 years to < 9 years

AST

AST

Manager

C3A

9 years to <10 years

AST

AST

Manager

Legend:
ASE-T - Assistant System Engineer Trainee
ASE - Assistant System Engineer
ITA - Information Technology Analyst
AST - Assistant Consultant
MT Management Trainee
ABA/ASA - Assistant Business Analyst / Assistant System Analyst
BA/SA Business Analyst / System Analyst
* Different ranges of relevant experience are found mapping to the same grade, as the compensation will
vary based on the range of relevant experience.
As displayed in the Table above, for a given Grade structure, the Grade for an applicant is purely a
function of the Relevant Experience. Relevant Experience is provided as a range mapped to a Grade.
More than one range of relevant experience may map to the same Grade.

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The table above also provides a Designation code against each grade. Designation is a level assigned to
an employee which indicates his/her positioning in the Organisation.
Each grade structure has a unique set of designations defined. Multiple designations may map to the
same Grade (ex: the designation for a person in the C1 Grade with engineering qualifications is ASE,
whereas the designation for the same grade for a Management Graduate is ASA)

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