Maharashtra, India’s biggest internal economy and home to the capital markets and some of the country’s top conglomerates, has advised the use of masks in enclosed places amid an unexpected Covid surge, prompting companies such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Deloitte and Mercedes Benz to boost measures ensuring staff safety.
Forbes Marshall, Thermax, Marico, Tech Mahindra, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, and Jindal Stainless are also among the companies seeking to enforce Covid protocols reflecting broader enhanced risks. Several corporates also plan to increase mass testing if the number of cases rises. Many companies are also encouraging staff to take booster shots.
State health minister Rajesh Tope was cited as saying in the local media on Saturday that masks were not yet made mandatory, although he appealed to people to use masks. His clarifications came after a written directive from Mantralaya official Pradeep Vyas to the district authorities on enforcing stricter protocols.
“Mask in closed public places like trains, buses, cinemas, auditoriums, offices, hospitals, colleges and schools is a must,” Vyas was cited as saying in the local media.
To be sure, cases nearly doubled within a week in six top industrial districts that include Mumbai city and suburban Pune, Palghar, Raigad and Thane.
While most companies ET spoke with are yet to see any significant escalation in the number of positive cases, they are keeping a close watch on government directives.
Wait and Watch
“As of now, we have not seen a significant escalation in the number of cases,” said Ruzbeh Irani, group HR president, Mahindra and Mahindra, which has several departments working from office premises. “We have, in any case, continued with many of the safety protocols even while coming back to office.”
Consumer company Marico, currently operating in the hybrid mode, may consider further reduction in the number of people working from office if positive cases in the city increase, said CHRO Amit Prakash.
“We continue working on hybrid mode – and will review further reduction next week if cases continue to rise,” he said. At Thermax, staff members showing symptoms of Covid infections are being asked to work from home, said Jasmeet Bhatia, the company’s HR chief. Companies such as Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Marico and Deloitte are encouraging employees to take booster shots at the earliest. Jindal Stainless held a camp for booster shots for its employees and their family members.
Booster Shots
“We have already sent out a message to employees to get their booster shots for which the company will bear the expenses… However, we are not conducting any camp in office this time as we did for the previous dose since the vaccine is currently widely available,” said SV Nathan, partner and chief talent officer, Deloitte India.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services, which has most of its people operating from office premises, is likely to send out an advice to the staff next week on the importance of getting their booster shots.
“We should do it by Monday and send out subtle messaging to the employees to get their booster doses,” said Sudhir Dhar, executive director – HR, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Meanwhile, manufacturers such as Jindal Stainless, where all the employees are coming to work both in factories and corporate offices, are making sure that employees follow proper masking and distancing protocols.
“We will make masks mandatory now. Areas such as the dining hall where there could be a crowd of people, we have ensured that people come in a staggered manner,” said Suresh Bose, CHRO, Jindal Stainless. “If we see cases increasing further, we will also start conducting mass testing or rapid antigen tests.”
Staggered Attendance
Staggered shifts are being considered at many plants. “We continue to work on the shop floor in shifts and have rearranged our offices to enable better social distancing with all present,” said Naushad Forbes, co- founder, Forbes Marshall.
Testing is also more frequent at production hubs where staff concentration is high.
“We test everyone between twice a week and every two weeks depending on whether we find even one positive case. We have had zero positives this week, and had one last week, out of a couple of thousand tests,” said Forbes.
Tech Mahindra will continue to follow the safety protocols already in place. It has zones at each of its offices to ensure movement is restricted to specific floors. It has transformed the workplace into a ‘touch-free’ environment by leveraging digital tools, including facial recognition system for attendance and ‘Book My Seat’ application, which will automatically ensure social distancing while allocating seats.
“We are keeping a close watch on all the directives issued by the respective state governments and have put stringent measures in place to curb the spread of the virus,” said Harshvendra Soin, Global Chief People Officer & Head – Marketing, Tech Mahindra.