How India Inc is helping families amid second wave | Economic Times

From continuing to pay salaries after an employee’s demise and providing jobs to spouse or family members to taking care of children’s education, India Inc is stepping up to support families of employees who have lost their lives to Covid-19. Many working-age professionals have succumbed to the virus in the devastating second wave of the pandemic, prompting employers to lend a helping hand to families, even as India has become the third nation in the world after the US and Brazil to report three lakh Covid-19 deaths. Tata Steel on Sunday said the family of a deceased employee will get the last-drawn salary along with medical benefits and housing facilities till the person’s retirement age of 60 years. Panasonic has decided to set up a fund where employees have contributed their one day’s salary with the company matching the contribution to help dependents of deceased employees. “We will continue to provide medical cover to the registered dependents for three years,” said Adarsh Mishra, chief HR officer of Panasonic India. KPMG in India is also in the process of creating a fund to support all the families that have been impacted by Covid-19, including families of contactors, and many longstanding third-party service providers. “In case of bereavement of an employee who happens to be the sole bread winner, we will also consider employing their family members on priority, if their skillsets are relevant,” its chief operating officer Arjun Vaidyanathan said. ICICI Lombard too will give employment to the deceased employee’s spouse if s/he fits the role. HR heads say that these measures are in addition to existing group term life insurance policies, enhanced Covid cover and employees deposit-linked insurance scheme (EDLI) payouts.Axis Bank has approved a corpus of Rs 10 crore towards a staff welfare fund, wherein effective January 1, 2021, a bereavement payout of Rs 2 lakh will be paid to bereaved families to tide over family income needs until the settlement of all other dues. Continuity of pay for six months for the dependents of deceased employees will be ensured, the private bank said. At BSH Home Appliances, family of a deceased employee will receive an amount equivalent to two years of the person’s last drawn monthly gross salary, while medical insurance coverage for dependents will be extended for two years. “The second wave of Covid-19 has brought with it a humanitarian crisis like no other,” said Neeraj Bahl, managing director and CEO of BSH Home Appliances. “In times like these, businesses are supporting their employees like never before.” Cashkaro will provide a year’s salary to the family of the deceased employee while Luminous Power Technologies will give three months’ salary besides employment to the spouse and yearly school reimbursement up to a limit of Rs 1 lakh per child till Class 12. Under its employee family assistance programme, TVS Credit will provide monetary compensation equal to three years of the deceased employee’s salary and children’s educational expenses till graduation. Marico has committed to provide the bereaved family with financial support. Bereaved families of Livspace employees will receive half months’ salary over 12 months as well as education cover for their school-going children for one year. Oyo, Borosil and Bajaj Auto are among companies that have already implemented such policies.