HERE ARE THE NEW RULES IT COMPANIES WOULD FOLLOW ONCE THEY ARE BACK TO WORK!

A new set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to revamp companies’ existing office infrastructure has been issued mostly for corporations that are in the technology sector. The return of employees to work is expected to happen in a phased manner. 

Chairman of the RPG Group Harsh Goenka said to ET that “the cautious balancing of safety norms, while targeting maximum business efficiency, is going to be the new challenge of our times."

Almost 30% of RPG’s 30,000 employees are set to be back to work. Its technology company is operating with only 50 % of employees working from office.

Manufacturing companies are operating as per the government’s latest instructions, whereas the information technology and service firms are opening offices and getting employees back to work. 

"If it's a cab they are taking to come to office then only one person is allowed in the vehicle and sits diagonally opposite to the drive. Elevator rules deem no more than two people for a unit that carries six people, and as an employee enters the office they are given three masks to be used for five hours each a day, then disposed and one for the next day as well," Aruna Jayanthi, head of Asia Pacific and Latin America consulting firm Capgemini told the media.

Out of Capgemini’s 110,000 employees, 5% are coming back to office. The company has shut its cafes, coffee machines, gyms, creche and conference rooms shut. The Bengaluru office also has an on-site doctor available at all times.

Other companies are also endorsing restricted and limited usage of office space. "No big meeting rooms, no cafeterias, and no visitors inside the office," cautioned Harsh Goenka.

Tech Mahindra’s Chief People Officer Harshvendra Soin also agreed with Goenka. He said that “in the long term, we expect to see a mix of ‘physical’ and ‘remote’ working as the new work paradigm. We also see around 25-30 per cent of our associates continuing to work from home on an on-going basis.”

"We have also created zones in our offices to restrict movements to specific floors. Use of staircases is being encouraged and in case of using lifts, no more than 2-4 people are allowed at a time," he added.

According to ET’s report, Pramoud Rao, managing director of security services at the CCTV company, Zicom, who never shut his offices and has been in work-mode from day one of the lockdown has around 20 per cent of his 300 employees coming to office. For them the new rules of engagement include no handshakes, eating at one's own desk only, ban on chai and smoke breaks outside the office and standard hygiene protocols like washing before and after eating, using the toilet and sneezing, Rao said. “We also require that everyone carry two pairs of shoes for its the shoes that carry the most germs and dirt when people are walking around the city.”

Employees will be expected to be extremely cautious of their personal space once they get back to work. They will be expected to strictly follow these rules in order to curb the spread of the virus.