HR Bulletin Volume 11

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VOLUME 11

HR Bulletin India under lockdown: Jobs and salaries safe despite disruption, companies tell staff Mumbai: Leading companies in India are proactively assuring employees that they will be taken care of financially while the lockdown continues or even if it gets extended. From paying advance salary to both regular and contractual workers a week before the usual salary credit date to honouring joining date commitment for new joinees even if they cannot come on board, companies are going all out to reassure employees. Stalled projects and work irregularities will not come in the way of salary payments, HR heads of top business groups confirmed. Companies are also assuring contract workers (vendors, housekeeping staff, maintenance personnel et al) of their jobs as well as uninterrupted pay Steel major Tata Steel has conveyed to all employees that salaries will be paid on time and there will be no disruption at all to salary payments due to the lockdown. For its contract workers and vendors, including people on temporary projects, maintenance staff, cleaning staff, housekeeping people and various other contract workers in their offices and factories, there will be no disruption in payment even though work has stopped.

“We have confirmed to the people, there will be no payment disruption. All salaries will be paid on time,” said Suresh Tripathi, vice president – HR at Tata Steel. “We have told the vendors that even if they are on leave or their projects are on hold due to lockdown or their work is reduced, that full payment will be made to everyone irrespective of all work disruption,” said Tripathi assuring that employees and workers have nothing to worry financially.

Bharti Airtel has already paid salaries to its employees for March.

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Online Onboarding for New Recruits Dalmia Bharat Group has advanced salary payment for all employees and all salaries are being credited into the accounts between March 26 and March 27.

The company has decided to make payment to their contract employees twice a month so that there is no shortage of cash in their hands.

For people who were due to join in March and April, the company is doing online onboarding and will ensure all salaries are paid to new joinees with no delay in joining dates. “With a weekend coming, we were worried about banks being shut. We wanted people to have the money in their hands and had taken this decision to advance salary payment even before the 3-week lockdown was announced,” said Ajit Menon, group HR head at Dalmia Bharat Group Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier urged all private sector companies to honour payment commitment to employees.

“Salaries will not be delayed, including for our factory workers. It will be business as usual for us,” a Vivo spokesperson told Oppo too has said that it will ensure timely disbursement of salary to all of its employees.Oppo’s Greater Noida facility houses over 4,000 employees, while Vivo’s factory has 10,000 employees. thers like Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, assured that no contract staff will be let go of due to a project being stalled. “It’s a mandate with every leader that no contract employee will be let go of due to project delays. We are not thinking about project timing at all now. Safety of everyone is the most important concern,” said Runita Verma, director HR, Schneider Electric India. Contract employees have already been given advance payments on Mar ..

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/jobsand-salaries-safe-despite-disruption-cos-tells t a f f / a r t i c l e s h o w / 7 4 8 3 7 11 9 . c m s ? utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=te xt&utm_campaign=cppst

Chinese handset makers Oppo and Vivo said that they will ensure timely salaries to their employees working in Greater Noida factories, which suspended production due to the state and nationallevel lockdown to contain the outbreak of Covid-19.

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Indian companies to offer average 9.1% pay hike in 2020, a decade low New Delhi: India Inc will offer an average pay hike of 9.1% to their employees in 2020, lowest in a decade, as companies tighten their purse strings amid a tough economic environment, the Aon annual salary outlook survey showed on Tuesday.

The hike is less than 9.3% paid in the last appraisal season and lowest in 20 years, except 2009 when Indian companies paid an average 6.6% hike in the wake of a global economic meltdown. At 9.1%, the average salary growth would show a successive fall in pay hike since 2015.

The study, one of the most comprehensive of its kind in India, analysed data from over 1,000 firms from 20 sectors. As per the survey, while startups/ecommerce, services and pharma firms will be the top pay masters in 2020, sectors like logistics, infra, auto and hospitality are expected to be paying the lowest average pay hike this appraisal season.

While e-commerce and startup firms are set to offer 10% average hike, same as professional services, pharma and IT companies are likely to hike salaries by 9.9% and 9.6%, respectively. The logistics and transport sector with a projected pay hike of 7.6% are at the lowest position of the pay ladder this year, closely followed by hospitality (8.2%) and infrastructure (8.3%).The automotive industry will see the biggest drop -- from 10.1% in 2018 to 8.3% for 2020, the survey said. “Companies in India gave an average pay increase of 9.3% during 2019, reflecting a slowdown in the economy compared to 2018. The projection for 2020 is down by 20 basis points to 9.1%. However, despite the dip in the projections, two out of five participating companies in the survey are projecting a double-digit increase, expecting a positive economic outlook," the survey underlined. Yet India Inc will offer a better pay hike than its Asian peers, said Aon, a leading human resource and consulting firm. Chinese companies are expected to offer 6.3% hike, the Philippines 5.8%, Malaysia 5.3%, Singapore 3.8%, Australia 3.1% and Japan 2.4%.“Despite economic challenges in 2019, organizations in India are taking a positive view. Pay increases in India continue to be the highest in the region. A big reason for India’s higher salary increase, as compared to other growing economies, is the high inflation rate and the war for key talent and niche skills," said Tzeitel Fernandes, partner, rewards solutions at Aon. Read more at: https://www.livemint.com/industry/human-resource/indian-companies-to-offer-average-9-1-payhike-in-2020-a-decade-low-11582016487070.html

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India Inc sets up task forces as staff anxiety rises due to Covid-19 lockdown MUMBAI: Indian corporate houses are setting up crisis management teams (CMT) or special task forces to guide and monitor both white and blue collar workers as the Covid-19 lockdown throws up challenges of handling teams working from home.

CEOs are holding video townhalls and sending mails to motivate and guide employees to ensure productivity and well being.

At Hero Motocorp chief Pawan Munjal has done several townhalls addressing its 4000 employees reassuring the workforce there will be no salary cuts, an issue that is topmost on the minds. Munjal makes his Town Hall meetings interactive and he takes candid questions from employees.

Mahindra’s MD, Pawan Goenka mentioned “At the moment it is all about the health of the employees and as such there is no panic as yet. However we will not overstate anything and be as transparent in communication. The daily wage earners and contract workers will not lose their job or wages”.

interaction where support groups check on each other and offer suggestions and advise to handling work from home situations. The group has also offered dial-in counselling and psychiatric help to employees overwhelmed with the changes in workplace and home thats affecting or demotivating.

Mahindra, Siemens, Nissan India, RPG Group and others have set up cross functional task forces after identifying the threat of Covid-19 virus. At multinational organisations, local CMTs are in touch with the global crisis teams to monitor and provide valuable inputs.

Employees are encouraged to do a "Note about themselves" and 'Get to know your team member' that gives an idea about the work they do and their families which then offers best suggestions about how to get work done. A Dabur India spokesperson said that they are encouraged to send fun videos from home and share with colleagues on the company Microsoft and WhatsApp groups.

"Housework bloopers and funny actions are shared.

Go For instance, on a Friday there is a 'dont talk work ' time where colleagues get informal and cheer each other."

The taskforce at Siemens doubles as the emergency response team reporting directly to the CEO. It closely monitors developments in China and ensures Siemens is installing preventive measures early. It works closely with all businesses to ensure business continuity, said a spokesperson. Tata group has also created a taskforce and support groups to help employees work from home effectively. "We have started scheduled water cooler and coffee time

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HUAMNE-R CMTs also deal with the work from home policy, IT availability, health and well-being of employees across all locations including project sites, maintenance of factories, offices around the country, provision of personal protection equipment including masks and sanitizers, internal communication and collaboration between employees. HR experts said the need of the hour is to play a supportive role during these times and sending out positive messages to employees. “We are aware that during such sensitive times, one wrong messaging can becoming highly counterproductive. Mahindra has set up a global counselling service called M Happy and even has its own psychologist. If this lockdown prolongs, it can surely affect productivity. We have be very careful to balance it out”, adds Tripathi.

Venu Srinivasan, chairman of TVS Motor said, “If costs have to be cut, it will start with me and go down to senior and middle management. I think major groups have reassured their people at this point in time. Reassuring families that their physical and financial health will be protected is the key to reduce any anxiety levels”.

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