Wipro tightens hybrid work rules, sets six-hour office minimum

Wipro has tightened the rules governing its hybrid work model, requiring employees to spend a minimum of six hours in the office on days they are rostered to work from campus, marking a clear shift from the looser flexibility it allowed earlier.

The change, communicated to employees through internal emails, comes even as the IT services major continues to mandate office attendance for three days a week. What is new is the explicit definition of how long employees must remain on site between their “in” and “out” punches.

The Economic Times reported that the revised policy makes it compulsory for employees to complete at least six hours in the office on each designated work-from-office day. The rule took effect from January 1 and applies across teams, according to the report.

Wipro’s HR team has told employees that hybrid work remains central to the company’s long-term workplace strategy, but that tighter monitoring is necessary to ensure consistency and collaboration. In its internal communication, the company said it expected associates to follow the policy “in both letter and spirit”.

Importantly, the six-hour requirement does not reduce the total length of the working day. Wipro’s standard workday remains 9.5 hours. Employees are expected to complete the remaining hours remotely on the same day and ensure delivery against assigned tasks.

The revised framework also links office attendance more closely with leave management. According to The Economic Times, employees who fail to meet the six-hour minimum on a designated office day may face a half-day leave deduction. Repeated failure to comply with the weekly office attendance requirement could affect leave balances.

The move builds on Wipro’s earlier decision to formalise hybrid work. In October 2024, the company’s chief human resources officer, Saurabh Govil, announced a new hybrid policy requiring employees to work from the office three days a week, while retaining limited flexibility for remote work over the year.

Under that earlier framework, employees were allowed up to 30 additional remote work days annually, split between sick leave and caregiving needs. The updated policy has narrowed this window. The Economic Times reported that the number of remote work days permitted under specific circumstances has been reduced to 12 days in a calendar year, down from 15.

Taken together, the changes signal a broader recalibration underway across India’s IT sector, where companies are seeking tighter control over attendance after years of pandemic-era flexibility. For Wipro, the message is clear: hybrid work is here to stay, but with sharper rules and clearer accountability.