OYO, OTHERS GO ALL OUT TO HELP STAFF, OFFER TIME TO HEAL
OYO rolls out four-day work week, unlimited no-reasons-asked paid leave
STARTING TODAY WE ARE MOVING TO A 4-DAY WORK WEEK BUT IMPLEMENTING IT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY, MAKING WEDNESDAYS OFF TO LET OYOPRENEURS HAVE A MID-WEEK BREATHER”
Start-ups and technology firms are softening the burnout effect the second wave of the pandemic is having on their employees. Many have shortened their work weeks to four days, while others have made provisions for more time off. Hotel chain Oyo will roll out a four-day week for its employees in addition to allowing “infinite no-questions-asked paid leaves”, said Chief Executive Officer and founder Ritesh Agarwal on Wednesday.
“Covid continues to test our physical + mental well-being. One thing that truly matters is having more time for our loved ones and ourselves. Inspired by start-ups and large companies alike, we began a few initiatives this week at Oyo...starting today we are moving to a 4-day work week but implementing it slightly differently, making Wednesdays off to let Oyopreneurs have a mid-week breather. We also launched a No Questions Asked Flexible Infinite Paid Leaves,” Agarwal tweeted.
Agarwal said employees would be allowed to take off when they wanted and there would be no need to log them. They need to let their manager know. “We are not going to stress about business impact and deadlines. We know work will not suffer, if anything Oyopreneurs will be more focused, efficient, and productive,” said Agarwal.
Zerodha, for example, recently said it had killed all work-related chats post 6 pm and on holidays. “Also trying to get as many conversations to be asynchronous, moving them from chat to our internal instance of @discourse. Curious to see if this helps reduce the feeling of burnt out & brain fried,” said Nithin Kamath, Zerodha founder and chief executive officer in a Linkedin post five days ago.
Foodtech giant Swiggy last month said it would move to a four-day work week May. Additionally, it has set up a pandemic support mechanism and an emergency support team to assist employees during this crisis. This includes the Swiggy Shield app and Employee Support Hotline — a Covid-19 support infrastructure. It helps employees access hospital beds, ICUS (intensive care units), plasma and oxygen cylinders and ambulance support. Large technology firms are taking the same course.
Accenture in India has introduced an additional leave benefit called the ‘COVID-19 Caregiver Leave’ of five days for people to take care of their family members who have tested positive for Covid-19. It is also allowing employees four hours of paid time off for each dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. In addition to partnering health care firms for access to advice for employees, Accenture is providing mental wellness support for people and their families through a 24X7 helpline, in addition to weekly virtual sessions with experts and around the clock emergency support.