India Inc votes to punch in at polling booths

Mumbai/Bengaluru: Corporate India doesn’t want ‘work’ to be an excuse for you to not vote. Nearly 97 crore people are eligible to vote this year and organisations are doing their bit to boost participation by ensuring that work obligations don’t hold employees back from turning up at polling booths.Several private companies have announced paid time-off on polling days or made such days meeting-free, apart from providing employees with information on travel policies so that those registered at booths outside their work city can vote too. Typically, states declare election day as a public holiday. Accordingly, all commercial establishments offer a paid holiday to workers.IT firms TCS, Infosys and HCL Tech have informed employees that offices will stay shut in each location on their respective polling dates. The three software services companies are among the largest private employers in India with a combined workforce of over 11 lakh people.Flipkart has declared a holiday on election day in its home city. “Our office will be shut on polling day in Bengaluru, and all employees will be given paid leave to vote, including those who may travel to their respective constituency to cast their vote,” said Flipkart. Manufacturing companies like Raymond and Godrej & Boyce (which produced India’s first ballot boxes) are designing election-friendly policies. “Given that elections will happen in seven phases and we have offices and manufacturing facilities in different parts of the country, we are planning various options to ensure that all our employees are able to exercise their right,” said Raymond HR president K A Narayan. Packaged sweet company Ferrero India is offering employees paid time-off on voting days so that they don’t have to bother about work obligations. It is also promoting voter awareness through internal communications. “In cases where employees cannot take time off, we prioritise flexibility in scheduling work to minimise any barriers to voting,” said Ferrero India HR head Rajas Bandekar. “For employees who are registered to vote outside their current city of work, we may offer options such as remote working and flexi working to accommodate travel to their registered polling locations,” Bandekar added. Home Credit too is offering its staff flexible work on voting days. Stock exchanges BSE and NSE have declared a trading holiday on May 20, when Mumbai goes to polls. “Given that BSE and NSE employ a lot of people who would need the day off to vote, closing the markets helps facilitate this legal requirement,” said an analyst.