Accenture splits salary hikes between base pay, lump-sum payout

Bengaluru: Accenture has revised the payout structure for salary increases in its June compensation cycle, impacting its global workforce of more than 7.8 lakh employees, including about 3.5 lakh in India. Under the new approach, employees will receive 50% of their approved salary increase as a one-time lump-sum payment in June, while the remaining 50% will be added to their base pay.The move has drawn mixed reactions from employees, some of whom said there was limited clarity on whether the arrangement would be a one-time measure and how the lump-sum component would be taxed. However, people familiar with the matter said the change is unrelated to the labour code provisions.According to an internal memo reviewed by TOI, the company said the revised structure aims to provide employees with more immediate cash while helping manage costs.“June is our primary cycle for promotions and base pay increases. Last year, we gave limited stay-at-level increases, and this year we are taking a different approach. We are both significantly increasing the number of people who receive them and delivering the increase in two parts: half as a base pay increase and half as a one-time lump sum paid in June,” the company said in the memo. The company added that this approach allows it to provide employees with immediate cash—which many value—while extending base pay increases to a larger number of employees.In the memo, Accenture clarified that promotion-related salary increases will continue to be delivered entirely through base pay and that the lump-sum payments are separate from annual bonuses awarded during the December compensation cycle.Talent leads will continue to make compensation decisions based on employees’ skills, performance, impact and behaviours. The memo illustrated the structure with an example: if an employee is approved for a 3% salary increase, 1.5% will be reflected in base pay, while the remaining 1.5% will be paid as a one-time lump sum. An email sent to Accenture didn’t elicit response till press time.