June 19, 2020 / 20:34 IST
In what could the first of its kind initiative for an airline in India, national carrier Air India has introduced 'special quarantine leave' for its employees. "An employee, who has been associated (in contact) with an infected person or a contaminated environment will be sent immediately on 'home quarantine' for a period of 14 days," the airline said in a notice to its employees on June 19. "ln view of the threat of community transmission, wherein the source cannot be traced, it is proposed that employees turning corona positive will also be immediately sent on 'home quarantine'," the airline added. More importantly, the special leave won't be debited from the employee's leave account. Moneycontrol has seen a copy of the notice.
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"It is a good policy. I hope other airlines follow too," said a senior pilot working in a private airline.
At present, while all airlines send employees, who have come in contact with an infected person or have tested positive, on leave, these are counted as 'sick leave'.
There have been several cases of Air India employees, including pilots and crew, testing positive for COVID-19. These included those involved in the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indians stuck overseas.
Prince Mathews Thomas heads the corporate bureau of Moneycontrol. He has been covering the business world for 16 years, having worked in The Hindu Business Line, Forbes India, Dow Jones Newswires, The Economic Times, Business Standard and The Week. A Chevening scholar, Prince has also authored The Consolidators, a book on second generation entrepreneurs.
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