Various companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have imposed a 14-day self-quarantine on employees which have traveled to countries affected by the Covid-19 coronavirus.
This information was revealed after Korn Ferry did a spot survey regarding the matter. The survey revealed that 11 percent of the companies in the UAE have asked such employees to take “voluntary leaves”.
The coronavirus epidemic has spread across the globe and caused a massive financial upset as well. After China, Italy has also been under lockdown due to the widespread of the virus.
The threat has also caused 3 percent of the companies in the UAE to temporarily freeze the hiring process as well.
According to the survey, the UAE companies are branching out and offering various safety measures for the employees which include flexible working hours, working from home, travel restrictions and adjustment to the KPIs.
Close to 60 percent of the companies have already announced flexible working hours. Speaking more on the matter, Vijay Gandhi, regional director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Korn Ferry said:
Keeping employees safe is the most important action organisations can take. Employees who feel that their organisation puts their safety first are likely to support business continuity measures by finding alternative ways of working and preserving business operations.
The spot survey further revealed that 22 percent of the organisations has enforced work-from-home option for the employees, while some companies have completely shifted their operations remotely.
Employees are being cautioned when it comes to traveling and have been informed to make use of audio/video calling in order to counter the problem.
More than 50 percent of the companies have announced travel restrictions locally and also internationally for all employees and a 14-day self-quarantine period has been imposed for employees traveling from countries which have confirmed cases of coronavirus.
The precautions are the primary step at controlling the epidemic as it has shown rapid spread throughout the world. Countries such as Iran, Italy, Pakistan, UK are all battling the problems as more and more cases are being reported each day.
The mortality rate of patients diagnosed with coronavirus remain at 2.7 percent but experts claim that the percentage can rise given that there is no possible cure right now and because of the exponential spread.
It is also worth mentioning that 14-day period is crucial because latest reports have revealed that it takes at least 5 days for the coronavirus to show and 14-days are enough to judge whether an employee has been affected or not.
