IT Companies' answer to SWINE FLU

The Times of India
The swine flu fear has reached India Inc too. The steady rise in the cases of flu has made Business India take preventive steps, though not many are talking about widespread shutdown in the face of a pandemic. There are doctors visiting offices, restrictions on travel, event cancellations, office advice of flu precautions and stay-home advisories to workers returning from flu-hit areas as companies look to keep the virus from impacting their businesses.

Companies are also checking their disaster recovery and business continuity plans, just in case things go out of hands. Here's looking into what IT companies are doing to contain flu.

Cooling off period

Many IT companies across the country have asked their `recently travelled' employees to go through a mandatory Cooling Off period of four to five days. During this Cooling Off period employees are asked to work from home and get back to office after mandatory four-five days only in case they show no signs of having contracted the disease.

Employees who have recently travelled to US, Mexico, UK and some parts of Europe have to go through this Cooling period. Bangalore-based IT company Wipro has introduced a 4-days Cooling period for its employees.

Travel advisory

Most IT companies have issued an advisory to their employees. Infosys Technologies has restricted travel among its nine development centres across the India. Perot Systems has temporarily banned travel between its Chennai and Coimbatore offices. All communication is being done through videoconferencing.

"Employees returning from swine flu-hit areas have to go through a compulsory medical check. Also, each of our development centers has a doctor and any employee can go for a swine flu check anytime," says an Infosys spokeswoman. The company has also asked its employees who recently travelled to US to get themselves examined before joining office. Infosys has about 20,000 employees at its Pune centre.

Most technology companies have also issued an advisory to their employees to avoid travelling to Mumbai and Pune unless extremely urgent.

Masks compulsory

US-based Perot Systems has reportedly made it compulsory for every individual to wear a mask inside the company campus. The company has one lakh masks in stock. It is also said to be procuring a temperature scanner as a precautionary measure.

Many other IT companies too are said to be in the process of procuring masks for their employees. Fumigation of campuses too is being done in most IT companies.

No handshakes please!

India's largest IT company TCS has asked employees to avoid shaking hands and to wash hands frequently through an advisory. It is also counselling staff to avoid panic.

Chief HR officer of Tata Tele Services (TTSL), CN Nagakumar, has sent out a health advisory "to enable the employees to understand, appreciate and take preventive and curative measures to effectively handle any eventuality of H1N1 currently spreading in the country"

The company has also ensured a round-the-clock doctor. TTSL officials who will visit Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on work are even contemplating wearing masks on the flight.

Paid leave

BPO company Syntel Inc has reportedly asked all its employees returning from high-risk countries such as the US and Mexico to compulsorily go on a two-day paid leave. The employees have been asked to go for a checkup from a company doctor.

Several IT companies like TCS and CapGemini have reportedly given their employees in Mumbai and Pune the option to work from home.

The country's largest software exporter TCS which also has considerable presence in Pune has issued detailed internal mails with relevant information about the pandemic and known safeguards against it.

NASSCOM summit postponed

Nasscom has postponed its two-day global engineering summit in Pune from August to November. About 300 people from across India and outside were expected to attend the summit.

“It is not about Pune but the fact that attendees will be coming from different places that could present a danger,” said a Nasscom official, who did not wish to be named.

Doctor on call

Most of the IT companies have made doctors available on call. Some IT offices have also set up a central control room. US-based Congnizant, which has its second largest global delivery center in Pune employing 7,500, has doctor visiting each floor of its office to conduct sessions on proactive precautions.

Many companies have also set up a toll free number to support employees and their families.