Human Resource Community

Google has relaxed a number of its COVID-19 measures and protocols associated with vaccination, testing and social distancing for its US employees. in a mail written to San Francisco Bay Area employees, David Radcliffe, VP, Google land and Workplace Services said that the corporate has decided to relax a number of the testing and vaccination policies introduced during the pandemic. Now Google doesn’t require vaccination for employment in the company for US workers. In January, Google said that each employee had to go through regular testing, even the vaccinated ones. However, now this rule has been relaxed. Furthermore, some of the social-distancing norms like wearing a mask at the workplace also are relaxed for the US employees. Employees working in cities where the caseload is high should require to wear masks, but this protocol may soon be lifted. some of the workplace perks also will return with this reversal in policy. Certain fun areas and informal gathering places at the workplace will now be open to be used Fitness centres, massage rooms, breakfast and lunch areas, lounges, game rooms, music rooms and massage chairs will now be available to be used. Full shuttle service also will resume for US employees, reveals Radcliffe’s mail. Unvaccinated employees at Google will, however, still be required to follow social distancing and regular testing protocols. The mail also states that the company will start its 30-day transition to a hybrid workplace model, where employees are required to return to the office for 3 days in a week. Google has still not selected a date to resume offices for employees. Source: CNBC

The Karnataka legislative assembly on February 22 passed bills hiking salaries and allowances of the chief minister, ministers as well as the legislators. this will mean a further recurring yearly expenditure of about Rs 92.4 crore. These bills have been pending for a long time and were proposed on the premise of increasing cost of living. The bill sought to increase the Chief Minister’s salary from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 per month. It seeks to hike the salary of ministers from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 per month. The sumptuary allowance for both are going to be hiked from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4.50 lakh a year. The house rent allowance of ministers is to go up from Rs 80,000 per month to Rs 1.20 lakh per month, while the allowance to take care of these houses and premises has also been hiked from Rs 20,000 per month to Rs 30,000 a month. Henceforth, Rs 2,000 are going to be paid towards petrol charges by the govt , instead of the earlier Rs 1,000. As per the bill, the legislative assembly speaker and the chairperson of the legislative council will enjoy a salary of Rs 75,000 instead of the earlier Rs 50,000. The monthly salary of the leaders of the opposition also will increase to Rs 60,000 from the earlier Rs 40,000 per month. The tour allowance for the ministers are going to be Rs 2,500 per day. The MLAs and MLCs may now expect to a salary of Rs 40,000 per month instead of the earlier Rs 25,000. Source: PTI

Kotak Mahindra Bank announces a New Mother Benefit policy, which will help provide financial support to new mothers for a period of one year after return to work, which will benefit them and their newborns. Under the New Mother Programme, new mothers will get an allowance for a period of 12 months, ranging from the day the new mother joins back after maternity leave. Newly-joined employees and people who have recently adopted a toddler also are eligible for the benefit. Sukhjit Pasricha, president & group chief human resources officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank, reveals that women employees make up nearly a quarter of the Bank’s workforce and that it has “always been sensitive to developing a better work culture for Kotak Wonder Women”. Therefore, women have enjoyed flexible work hours, flexible work opportunities, and other arrangements. In Pasricha’s words, “We endeavor to keep doing more and more on this front. Any mother who returns to work post child delivery practically to address this need of our women employees. We want to support them in better managing their careers as well as their children’s lives.” Apart from this, the company already has an extended maternity leave policy, part-time work options for flexibility, tie-ups with creche services, and medical insurance which covers the newborn from day one.

Online travel services provider Cleartrip on Thursday said it’ll increase its employee headcount by 40 per cent in the coming quarter taking the overall to 700 by December 2022. The company has increased its workforce strength by 60 per cent in the ongoing quarter. It had 240 employees in October 2021, the company said in a statement. The extra hiring are going to be across tech, product, growth and emerging business areas, it added. Commenting on the plans, Cleartrip CEO Ayyappan Rajagopal said, “Cleartrip has been witnessing steady recovery as customer confidence, slowly but surely, returns to pre-COVID-19 levels. At this juncture, it’s the opportune time to scale up our business, which is understandably recovering slower than other sectors.” Rajagopal further said that as the company’s move forward in 2022, one among its key goals this year is to bring more offerings, scale up its existing verticals to bring more digitally-enabled travel experiences for the firm’s customers to boost their confidence while travelling during what has been a difficult time Cleartrip said an outsized number of the hiring has been dedicated toward supporting its plans to scale up its hotels category business by hiring across regions in India to build out its hotel vertical portfolio as well as build the technology and products teams for this category. The hiring is across popular destinations in India including Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu , Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal , Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab, it added. Source: Economic Times

Amazon has told its corporate employees that it is raising its cap on base cash compensation to $350,000, more than double the previous amount, citing “a particularly competitive labor market,” according to an internal announcement viewed by The New York Times. Amazon previously capped its pay for tech and corporate employees at $160,000 in most parts of the United States, favoring stock compensation that vests over several years for the rest of an employee’s pay package. Despite strong earnings announced last week, Amazon’s stock is down more than 4 percent over the past year. The company did not say if the increased cash compensation would be paired with lower stock awards. It told employees that it was increasing the overall compensation ranges for “most jobs globally, and the increases are much more considerable than we have done in the past.” The compensation increases were only for salaried corporate and tech workers, not the hourly workers who power Amazon’s operations. Those employees earn an average of about $18 an hour. Amazon confirmed the note but declined to comment further. Amazon has seen a rash of departures at its senior levels, in which compensation is heavily weighted in stock. Its cash salary cap was far lower than that of other major technology employees and a source of frustration for its workers. The changes to compensation come during the first annual pay review cycle since Andy Jassy became CEO in the summer. He previously led Amazon’s cloud computing division, which competed fiercely with other tech companies for talent. The announcement was first reported by GeekWire, a Seattle technology news site. Amazon increased its workforce by more than 300,000 people over the past year and now has more than 1.6 million employees. Source: Reuters

IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced plans to expand its operation by hiring more than 1,000 employees for the New Jersey location, by the end of 2023. In order to nurture the local IT pool in the area, the company will be boosting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and computer science education programs in New Jersey by 25%. TCS’ Edison Business Center, one of 30 TCS facilities in the US, serves more than 100 customers in New Jersey. TCS has more than 3,700 employees in the state who provide IT and consulting services across industries, harnessing technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, and enterprise software. The new employees will primarily focus on offering IT and technical services majorly based on the artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, and enterprise software verticals. Commenting on the news, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said that TCS has been significantly driving the economic growth of the region by creating a pool of local talents. He added, “Our economic mission trip to India in 2019 continues to bear fruit as we have seen deep investments from Indian companies in our state.” The number of hires by TCS over the last five years counts as 21,500. It has 556,986 employees globally, with over 20,000 workers in the US which is its top client and revenue market. “TCS is committed to nurturing tomorrow’s technology leaders through STEM initiatives and volunteerism across New Jersey, so they can continue to drive economic growth and give back to their local communities,” said Surya Kant, Chairman of North America, TCS. He noted that for TCS New Jersey is the centre of technology and IT innovation and thus, makes an important hub for the company. Source: Business Standard  

Tata Motors on Tuesday reported 27 per cent year-on-year growth in total vehicle sales, including in the international markets, at 76,210 units in January 2022. The company’s total sales in January 2021 was 59,866 vehicles, Tata Motors said in a statement. Total domestic sales grew 26 per cent at 72,485 units in January 2022 as against 57,649 vehicles sold in the same month last year, it said. Total passenger vehicles sale was higher at 40,777 units last month as compared to 26,978 units clocked in January 2021, the company said, adding electric vehicle sales during the month surged nearly five times at 2,892 vehicles against 514 units sold in the year-ago period. Total commercial vehicle sales in January 2022 stood at 35,268 vehicles, registering a growth of 7 per cent over 32,816 units clocked in the same month last year. This included 31,798 units sold in the domestic market, which was 3 per cent higher over 30,671 units sold in January 2021, the company said. Total MHCV sales in January 2022, including M&HCV truck, buses and international business, stood at 10,655 units, compared to 9,452 units in January 2021, Tata Motors said. Source: PTI

Everyone in the business world is aware of the actions taken by the CEO of Better.com – Vishal Garg. Last year, the CEO was in the news for laying off more than 900 employees of the company over a Zoom call without any warning. A video of the grim Zoom call went viral on social media and amongst various news channels which caused great harm to the reputation of the CEO and the company. Now, the CEO is back to the company with reportedly good intentions but the staff is still upset by his behavior and actions. As a result, many employees from the company have started putting down their papers after the CEO’s return from a month-long break. Actions do we have consequences and after the negative publicity Garg received, he was sent on a break to reflect on his leadership style and actions. He had even issued an apology for the way he laid off his employees. However, when the company reinstated the CEO saying that he is back with a lot of positive changes and plans to take a more different leadership approach, it didn’t put the employees at ease. As reported by TechCrunch, the company’s employees started putting down their papers. Source: HR Katha and TechCrunch  

To ensure increased productivity and efficiency, the Government of Chhattisgarh has announced a five-day work week for its government employees. The state government has also increased the contribution to the Anshdayi Pension Scheme from 10 to 14 per cent. This was shared by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Twitter. “In a bid to increase efficiency and productivity of government employees, Chhattisgarh government is implementing five-day working week. State government’s contribution in a pension scheme will also be increased from 10 per cent to 14 per cent,” said Baghel in a tweet. In addition, the Chhattisgarh state government will also introduce a legislation that will make small commercial operations in residential areas legitimate. This move will be beneficial to the innumerable small businesses that have otherwise been operating uncertainly. In order to create jobs, especially for the youth of the State, and also to ensure that the transport department remains accessible to the general public, the launching of several transport facilitation centres across Chhattisgarh has also been announced. Another good news for government employees is that 10 per cent of plots will now be set aside for entrepreneurship development in OBCs. This is a result of amendments in the inter-industrial policy of ‘Contributory Pension Scheme’. The ‘Mukhyamantri Noni Sashaktikaran Sahayata Yojana, that is, the Chief Minister’s Girl Empowerment Assistance Scheme, will lend support to the daughters of labourer families in the areas of education, employment, self-employment and marriage. The scheme will ensure that Rs 20,000 is deposited in the bank account of each of the first two daughters of labourers registered with the ‘Chhattisgarh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board’. Amongst other benefits that were announced, are the simplification of rules for issuing learning driver’s license and the establishment of safety cells for women in all districts. Source: ANI

The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) on Monday said that around 15 lakh power sector employees will go on nationwide strike for two days from February 23 to protest against privatisation. “National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees & Engineers (NCCOEEE) has decided to resort to two days nationwide strike along with call given by All India Trade Unions on 23rd and 24th February,” an AIPEF statement said. In a statement, AIPEF announced that the striking employees associated with the union and the National Coordination Committee of Electricity Employees & Engineers (NCCOEEE) have had to resort to a two-day nationwide strike on February 23 and 24. The call was given by the All India Trade Unions. The major reason behind the strike is to stop the Government from implementing privatisation policies on the PSUs. Other demands include repealing of the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021, disregarding the idea of privatisation of the profit-making power departments of the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Dadra Nagar Haveli Daman & Diu and Puducherry. The union is also demanding to integrate unbundled power utilities such as the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) in Kerala and the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) in Himachal Pradesh, and the implementation of the old pension scheme for all power employees. Another demand the protesting employees have is the regularisation of the employment of all outsourced workforce employed with power companies, as the Telangana government has already done. Source: PTI