Work from home has been the norm globally with firms like Google, Facebook, and Twitter extending it for long. India too has been vocal for this for industries like BPO, IT and ITeS. While the IT Ministry eased the norms for such companies to work from home till 31st July, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The MHA has asked the companies to allow work from home as far as possible. Since lockdown 3.0 and in lockdown 4.0 the firms are allowed to resume work with adherence to safety measures and limited staff. MHA has also asked states and central ministries/departments to follow the practice.
Some more guidelines were issued by MHA in regards to work on office in phase 4 of national lockdown:
- Staggering of work/business hours shall be followed in offices, workplaces, shops, markets, and industrial and commercial establishments.
- Frequent sanitization of the entire workplace, common facilities, and all points which come into human contacts, like door handles, shall be ensured, including between shifts.
- Provision for thermal scanning, hand wash, and sanitizer will be made at all entry and exit points and common areas.
- Employers on the best effort basis should ensure that Arogya Setu is installed by all employees.
- All persons in charge of workplaces shall ensure social distancing through the adequate distance between workers, adequate gaps between shifts, staggering the lunch breaks of staff, etc
Meanwhile, district authorities have been asked to advise individuals to install the Aarogya Setu application on compatible mobile phones & regularly update their health status on the app.
