First day, first show: Resuming work post lockdown

YesssWorks, a co-working space in Mumbai, has enforced social distancing norms at the BKC outpost, with only one person per table. "We have decided to not allow more than three occupants in the conference room," says co-founder Mihir Shah

A few weeks prior to the lockdown, Hitesh Shah, who runs a paper import business called NTDC at Fort, decided to expand his 1,000 sq ft office by acquiring an additional 1,000 sq ft space. It was a move that he wouldn-t have thought much about if it wasn-t for the Coronavirus pandemic that soon followed.

After three months of lockdown, Shah resumed office on June 8, along with seven employees. "I have a team of 17 people. As of now, only 10 per cent has been asked to make it to the office every alternate day as per government norms," he says. At a time when workers will need to sit further apart to follow social and physical distancing norms, Shah is glad he now has additional space.

Hitesh Shah in blue, founder of paper supply company, NTDC, is able to maintain physical distance because he has currently a staff of seven functioning from a 2,000 sq ft office in Fort. Pic/ Bipin Kokate

As stay-at-home orders begin to loosen in Maharashtra with Mission Begin Again, companies are planning for their employees to return to the office. From face recognition-based biometric systems, immunity shots, contact-less services to social distancing circles in common areas, the workplace is being restrategised. At Shah-s establishment, the clock-in time has been shifted to noon to ensure employees have their meals at home and then report to work. "Although we have a pantry that is adequately stocked, we want to restrict frequent visits to the kitchenette for the time being." Shah lives in Matunga and drives to work. To ensure his staff does not get harrowed by commuting, given that the Mumbai locals, taxis and aggregator cabs are yet to resume full operations, he has allocated a vehicle with a driver to pick up his colleagues from South Mumbai. The ones who live in the suburbs have been exempt from coming.

A staffer sanitises the interiors of YesssWorks

But not everybody may be as fortunate. Meghana Nadkarni, who works as an exam coordinator with a management institute, is reeling from her first day at work. "It wasn-t the work which was the problem, but the journey to get to work," she says. The Goregaon resident has had to brave serpentine BEST queues to make it to her Vile Parle office.

CDK Global India employees were asked to fill up an assessment test for mental and physical wellbeing. Only those who cleared it were allowed to come to office

According to a statement by the BEST, 2,132 buses operated on 81 routes on the morning of June 8. "As per the rule, only 35 people are allowed at one time [in a bus], 25 sitting and five standing. With fewer buses, it-s agonising waiting for your turn." Although fake videos of passengers rushing into a bus with zero regard for physical distance have been circulating on social media, Nadkarni says the scene wasn-t too different on the ground. "An old man accidentally tripped over me in the rush," she says. Nadkarni-s unmissable morning ritual these days is not a quick cup of chai, but a dash to the washroom to sanitise her bag, and other belongings, before she does the same with her desk. "I also obsessively wash my hands because you never know what-s settled on the surface of doorknobs and elevator buttons." Her office is on the ninth floor and taking the elevator comes with its own set of risks. "They limit the number of people, but being in an inherently cramped space feels frightening." As a precautionary measure, she wears gloves while pressing buttons. When it comes to work, the 36-year-old says she is doing pretty much what she did at home, except with a mask on. "While I agree wearing it is vital, you feel smothered when it-s on for long hours."

Joy George

Joy George, the head of Human Resource at CDK Global, an MNC that specialises in providing software solutions to auto dealers, says it-s natural for employees to feel unmoored given the safety and distance norms that they need to follow. "We held a Town Hall meeting, where people who reported to work, offered testimonials on what their first few days at work felt like. Many admitted feeling weird and lost initially. It-s about changing habits," he says. CDK was recently recognised as a Great Place to Work GPTW for 2020-2021. In keeping with the company standards, they launched an app to assess the physical and psychological wellbeing of employees. Only those who secured a safety badge were asked to make it to work. "Every single person from the MD to the intern had to fill the survey on the app." EarlySalary.com, a FinTech start-up, chalked out a plan to decide who could make it to work in the first phase, flexibility being the keyword. "We decided that employees who have seniors in their home, small children or have a pregnant spouse will continue to work from home. We also agreed that travelling in public transport is not a wise idea and are keeping away all those who take more than an hour to reach office; they will all continue working remotely," says Akshay Mehrotra, co-founder.

Akshay Mehrotra

For a workforce that has tasted the fruits of remote working, placing people back into the office has generated much debate. Shah is not an advocate of remote working. Three months of work from home WFH hasn-t changed his point of view. "My concern is coordination. Call me old-school, but I-d rather yell across my desk to call a co-worker than make a WhatsApp call to get things done," he says. According to Tanay Shah, co-founder of Diamond Chef, a bespoke jewellery brand at BKC, the concept of WFH doesn-t sit in their industry because they deal in high-value products. "We had clients sending inquiries asking for products for upcoming events. Now that we-re finally able to source raw material in the market, we wanted to get down to it straightaway," he says. The challenge for Shah has been to ensure employees follow safety norms to the T. "I-ve realised that sanitisation and hygiene doesn-t come naturally to us; the need to wear a mask, maintain physical distance and disinfect our belongings is something that needs to be constantly reinforced." To reiterate the norms, they have circulated an SOP standard operating procedure among the employees, informing them about what they need to do before beginning the day-s work - disinfect the desk, carry your own bottle and spoon so that you can avoid using cutlery from the pantry, not to forget to wear a face mask before stepping out.

Tanay Shah

Redbrick, a coworking workplace in Andheri, has pasted posters of dos and don-ts on the walls, doubled the housekeeping staff to ensure industrial level cleaning and increased the sanitisation points at every 20 metres. "We check every visitor-s body temperature and have prohibited outside deliveries. We have also created a medical room for people who feel unwell, they can go in for a checkup," says director Ashish Goenka.

George says herd immunity, as provocative as it may sound, can work. Herd immunity occurs when enough people of a population are immune to an infectious disease, either because they-ve been infected and recovered or been vaccinated. "The software industry that contains the bulk of younger, less-at-risk population could help develop immunity against the virus. How long can we be holed up at home?"

Only those staffers, who live within close proximity of the office, have resumed work at EarlySalary

That said, not everybody is buying into the argument. Shrivallabh Kulkarni is the managing director at Dimenzion3, which offers global solutions in the fields of diversity and HR practices to multinational giants such as Amazon, Accenture, Oracle and DentsuAaegis. "There-s a grave risk in calling employees to office at this juncture, even if it-s only 10 per cent of staff," he says. The problem is magnified in cases, where employees are not being provided transport by their company and have to depend on crowded public transport. "There are employers who would want you to believe that it-s safe to report to work, but it is not. The virus poses a serious danger to public health right now." He says the flexible working practices outweigh the downsides. According to Kulkarni, the current pattern will also disrupt work processes because it is likely to create a divide between the haves and have-nots on the basis of private vehicles. "There could be people who presume that going to office is a privilege or there could be a section who might think the same about WFH. It will create disparity in perception." He says there are scores of corporations that have been able to pull off WFH successfully and continue to do so.

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