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Business News/ Companies / News/  Firms get serious about social distancing to halt virus spread
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Firms get serious about social distancing to halt virus spread

Firms adopt slew of measures from cancelling large-scale events to using remote access tools
  • For factory workers, firms are taking basic precautions such as ensuring sanitization
  • Companies have cordoned off public places, such as gyms and crèches, and are also urging employees to work from home to reduce the number of people at offices. (PTI)Premium
    Companies have cordoned off public places, such as gyms and crèches, and are also urging employees to work from home to reduce the number of people at offices. (PTI)

    NEW DELHI : Employers across the country are finding new ways to implement social distancing measures at the workplace. These include reducing the number of employees coming to work, asking employees to work from home wherever possible, cordoning off common access areas within offices, restricting the entry of visitors, and using video conferencing facilities.

    With regard to factory workers, companies said they were following basic precautions such as sanitization and giving leave to employees who show any symptoms of the disease.

    The local arm of Japanese electronics company Panasonic has cordoned off public spaces, such as gyms and crèches, at its offices across India. It is also encouraging its office-based employees to work from home to reduce the number of people at its offices. It has advised against unnecessary travel and encouraged employees to attend meetings online. The company has 13,000 employees in India, including the staff at its plants.

    “At office premises, we are exercising social distancing, self-quarantine in case of any flu-like symptoms, and have placed sanitizers for across locations. We have also strengthened our IT systems and given remote access through important platforms to ensure seamless business continuity, in case the situation persists. We have also issued advisories, conducted online trainings for our shop floor associates and asked technicians to take precautions when dealing with customers," a company spokesperson said.

    Mumbai-based Godrej Industries has cancelled large scale events and scheduled public gatherings at its offices. “Wherever possible, for office-based roles, we are encouraging people to work from home, while we ensure business continuity. We have suspended business-related international and domestic travel, and moved critical meetings to video conferences," said Sumit Mitra, head, group human resources, and corporate services, Godrej Industries Ltd.

    The company has also requested team members with travel history to countries, such as China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan, to notify their manager and human resource partner and work from home for two weeks after returning to India.

    The measures to promote social distancing come amid reports of an employee at a large corporate park in Bengaluru was Covid-19-positive.

    In India, large companies, including Amazon, Swiggy, Hindustan Unilever, Ford India and Infosys, have advised employees to work from home wherever possible. In Karnataka, IT companies have been issued a “strict advisory" by the government to extend the option to limit the spread Covid-19, Mint reported earlier. Moreover, on Tuesday, Gurugram issued an advisory directing multinational companies, technology firms and BPOs to exercise the option of working from home until 31 March.

    Shamita Ghosh, head, human resources, BookMyShow, which has 1,500 employees across offices, said all employees have been asked to work from home. It has shelved work-related travel and encouraged employees to conduct business via calls and video conferencing.

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    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Suneera Tandon
    Suneera Tandon is a New Delhi based reporter covering consumer goods for Mint. Suneera reports on fast moving consumer goods makers, retailers as well as other consumer-facing businesses such as restaurants and malls. She is deeply interested in what consumers across urban and rural India buy, wear and eat. Suneera holds a masters degree in English Literature from the University of Delhi.
    Catch all the Corporate news and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
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    Published: 18 Mar 2020, 06:30 PM IST
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