COMPANIES INTRODUCE NEW LEAVE POLICIES AS A PART OF WORK FROM HOME! WHAT ARE THE NEW CHANGES? DETAILS

The coronavirus pandemic has forced employees across the world to adopt to ‘Work from home’. However, employees have also started expressing that juggling between household chores and a full-time job is becoming quite difficult. Reportedly, few employers have noted that employees are reluctant to approach them for availing leave and some of the employers have been kind enough to offer leave. Some companies have chosen to build “leave banks", others have encouraged employees to refuse work during lunch hour.

Times of India quoted Dr Seema Hingorrany who noted that workers have been approaching psychologists reporting of stress from working at home, depression over not getting holidays or feeling anxious about their job situation in the months to come. ““Some women have even found their menstrual cycles going haywire,” she added.

While the productivity levels have reportedly increased during the lockdown, it has also served as a coping mechanism for many according to Neha Pant, senior knowledge advisor, Society for Human Resource Management India. "Employers suddenly discovered the benefits of working from home, since employees worked much harder. But the reason they worked harder was fear, grief, and sudden loss of freedom.”

She also added that some organizations have exploited the situation by inducing the feeling in employees that there is no reason to go on leave. "One doesn’t have to travel and it was assumed they were discharging their household duties anyway. So unless you fell sick — which has become a COVID stigma — one had no plausible reason to apply for leave,” she says.

While speaking about reconfiguration of leave policies, SV Nathan, chief talent officer, Deloitte India told, “We have introduced a ‘shared leave bank’, giving professionals the option of donating their leave. If anyone has exhausted their leave and is facing a medical emergency, they can use the leave from this leave bank,” says SV Nathan, chief talent officer, Deloitte India.

Raheja Corp. Allows employees to take small breaks to break the monotony. “We are running multiple contactless programs every week such as virtual cooking sessions with our hotel chef, wellness meditation classes, specially curated book readings and language tutorials,” says Urvi Aradhya, chief human resources officer, K Raheja Corp. 

Crompton Greaves has managed to intergrade leave policies into workplan discussions with employees. “We do not expect people to work beyond the normal working hours and employees are empowered to refuse work during off-office hours and ‘lunch-breaks’,” says Satyajit Mohanty, vice president (HR), Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd.

Debu Mishra, a leadership and start-up advisor feel that companies’ treatment towards their employees will decide the nature of the relationship between employers and employees in workplace post COVID19. “Employees who are stressed now because work is being heaped upon them 24x7 will be the first to leave when better opportunities come up later,” he said.

All these experts underlined that companies are required to plan a structured break from work for the entire workforce.