How IT Companies in India Are Helping Employees Sail through the COVID-19 Pandemic

IT companies in India have over the last few weeks announced various initiatives for employees and their family members. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made it the onerous responsibility of organisations to not only ensure business continuity but also ensure employee wellbeing. Here are some of the measures undertaken by IT companies in India to help employees sail through the pandemic.

Wipro: The company has partnered with Connect and Heal, a tech-enabled Online-to-offline delivery platform specializing in primary care and urgent response services, to bring Covid-19 vaccination support services to its employees. Nurturing Wellness Platform is also launched by the company to provide doctors, nutritionists, health coaches, virtual consultations, and 24x7 emergency care experts to ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of its employees in such difficult times. The company is facilitating complimentary pre and post-vaccination support and vaccination reimbursement for its employees and their spouses. “The health and safety of our employees remain our foremost priority", said the company in a statement.

Infosys: The company has tied up with over 130 hospitals where its employees and their immediate families can get vaccinated. It has also made vaccination camps at the campus for its employees. The company will also provide 21 days of additional paid leave for employees who have contracted or are recovering from COVID-19. To extend its support, the company has also set up Employee COVID Care Centres in Pune and Bengaluru to provide special media care and treatment to its employees and their family members who are COVID positive and need special medical care beyond home quarantine."These centres would be managed by Ruby Hall hospital for Pune, and Manipal Hospitals for Bengaluru," Infosys said in a statement. Infosys has also tied up with COVID-19 testing labs PAN India across and collaborated with emergency ambulance providers in every major city.

Visionet Systems: IT and business processing company Visionet Systems will bear 100 percent Covid vaccination cost for its employees and their immediate families. The company is also open to helping ex-employees as well with this drive. The IT major said it has moved all its workforce in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Coimbatore to work from home. Employees diagnosed with Covid-19 will be provided paid medical leave and the ones taking care of an ill family member will also be given Paid caregiver leave. The company through its Employee Assistance Program has also made virtual doctor visits, online health care services and mental health professionals available for free for its employees. “The health and well-being of our employees is our top priority,” says Alok Bansal, MD and Country Head, Visionet Systems and adds, “Unprecedented times however demand unprecedented measures and our vaccination drive will hopefully cover all our employees which is close to 4000+ workforce only in India. We realize that our employees need extra support at this time and hence we have offered unlimited hospitalization benefits and medical bill reimbursement as well.”

IBM: IBM is taking firm and coordinated action to support IBMers in India as well as in other parts of the world where COVID is surging. The company is supplementing medical coverage to ensure COVID-19 care for the employees and has put in place a dedicated health line to provide special medical care and consultations from medical professionals for the staff and employees, who are isolating at home."We are supporting efforts to increase vaccination among IBMers. For those who volunteer, we are creating a decentralised distribution model where IBMers and their covered family members can get the vaccine in any approved center close to where they live or a facility on our own campuses. We are looking into providing emergency transport services to help IBMers and their families reach medical care in cities where we operate," said IBM chief executive officer Arvind Krishna in a statement.

HCL Technologies: HCL Technologies will bear the vaccination cost for all its employees, their families and vendors and is in the process of expanding the drive across the country. “We are also in an advanced stage of discussion with various hospital chains that can provide vaccination wherever our employees would like to go for proximity. We are working with them in ensuring that they can get their vaccination there as well,” VV Apparao, Chief Human Resources Officer, said in a statement. The company currently employs about 1.68 lakh people.

Accenture: Recently, the IT giant shared a statement regarding its efforts on keeping its employees safe. The company is taking the following steps to help its employees:

• Accenture is providing health support to its people and their dependents - this includes complimentary 24/7 doctor tele-consultation and mental wellness counselling helplines.
• The company is offering reimbursable benefits for COVID-19 testing with home sample collection.
• Working with medical partner network to support employees and their loved ones who have tested positive and need emergency medical assistance. A Home Care Service has been launched for employees and their family members who experience symptoms and are under quarantine or are awaiting hospitalization. The assistance package includes medical care and advisory services for the 14-day quarantine period including daily remote nursing support for vitals monitoring, consultations with physicians, dieticians and psychologists and home isolation kits which include a pulse oximeter, face shields and other essential items prescribed by health practitioners for medical care at home.
• The company is covering the cost of two-part vaccinations for employees and their dependents over the age of 18 who are part of our medical benefits program. Employees can avail four hours of paid time off for each dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.
• An additional leave benefit called the ‘COVID-19 Caregiver Leave’ of five days has been introduced for employees to take care of their family members who have tested positive for COVID 19.