New Guidelines for office goers

New Delhi: Soon work from office, will undergo major changes as home ministry  issued new guidelines.

From April 20, offices that are allowed to open will have to ensure every employee wears a face mask, no employee is closer than 6 feet from another, that there are no meetings of 10 people or more, that lunch breaks are staggered so that all employees don’t gather at the same point at the same time, that employees work in shifts and that there is an hour’s gap between shifts. IT/ITES have been told to work at 50% staff capacity. That’s not all. The guidelines say use of staircases should be encouraged, and in case of lifts, no more than 2-4 people (depending on the size) should be allowed at a time.

Those with children below 5 years of age and those aged above 65 should be encouraged to work from home, the guidelines say.

Further, there are strict rules on providing adequate hand sanitizers, preferably touch-free ones, and on mandatory thermal screening. Employees who need transportation must be ferried in vehicles that do not use more than 30-40% of seating capacity, the rules mandate.

All workplaces have to keep a list of Covid hospitals nearby, and all employers are to encourage staff to use the Aarogya Setu app. No “non-essential” visitors allowed in offices, no consumption of tobacco products, and a big no-no on spitting – those are among the other rules.

District magistrates will enforce these rules through fines and penal action prescribed in the Disaster Management Act 2005.