Oyo has asked some India employees to go on leave with limited benefits and cuts fixed pay of all by 25%
Oyo on Wednesday asked some of its staff in India to go on leave with limited benefits from May 4 for four months, and also asked all employees in the country to accept a cut in their fixed salaries by 25 percent due to the impact of the COVID-19 on the hospitality industry. –PTI
Currently, the company has around 10,000 employees in the country, is a leading player in the hospitality industry that has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
OYO India and South Asia CEO Rohit Kapoor said (in an email sent to the employees), “We had to take the hard decision of placing some OYOpreneurs on a Leave With Limited Benefits from May 4, 2020, for four months until August 2020,”
Those going on this leave will avail benefits such as the continuation of medical insurance and parental insurance, school fee reimbursement, and ex-gratia support, he added.
“In addition, to our colleagues on LwLB, in case there is an unforeseen medical emergency, we will support beyond the insured amounts, if the need so arises,” Kapoor also said.
He added, all these colleagues remain integral to the Oyo family and “we hope we will be in a position to welcome them back into full-time roles sooner rather than later,”
Oyo is taking all necessary actions to mitigate Covid-19’s impact and ensure long-term success and sustenance of the business while ensuring there are no job cuts despite the economic pressures, Kapoor said.
When asked about the number of employees it is placing on leave, the company refused to share any numbers. The company, however, confirmed that the employees will receive an ex-gratia amount equal to a total of 60 percent of the monthly fixed salary, paid in two equal installments across May and June.
Oyo is also taking a difficult but necessary step for India, whereby the company is asking all employees to accept a reduction in their fixed compensation by 25 percent. This will be effective for April-July 2020 payroll, Kapoor said.
“All other benefits and terms of your contract will remain unchanged. Also, note that this action will be planned in such a way that post the proposed pay cut, the fixed compensation for any employee is not less than Rs 5 lakh per annum. This ensures a large percentage of our colleagues at lower pay scales see no impact,” he added.
Earlier this month, while announcing furloughs for employees across the globe and referring to the government advisories in India on pay cuts and layoffs, Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal had said Oyo is committed to zero actions that impact employment status and salaries of ten thousand plus employees on payrolls and tens of thousands of OYO managed assets staff during this period of a 21-day countrywide lockdown.
Agarwal had told his employees that a significant number of its workforce across countries was being placed on temporary leaves or furloughs for 60 to 90 days because of the Covid-19 pandemic on April 8. In January, Oyo had announced a restructuring exercise aimed at reducing costs and it involved a significant number of job cuts.
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