OYO India offers employees extended leaves, voluntary separation

Hospitality firm OYO Hotels & Homes has offered its employees in India who have already been sent on leave, either an extension of the "leave with limited benefits" for six months or a voluntary separation programme.

During an internal address to employees on Leave with Limited Benefits (LwLB), Rohit Kapoor, CEO, OYO India and South Asia said that although the company is hopeful about recovering, there is "sadly no clear visibility on the timelines at this moment".

The situation remains uncertain, as the number of Covid-19 cases across India continue to surge and impact consumer behaviour, he said.

"As a result, hotels are reopening in phases and the recovery is taking much longer than expected. Despite our best efforts, we don't quite know when our occupancies and revenues will recover to pre-Covid levels in India. In such a situation, we do not foresee a lot more roles opening up anytime soon," Kapoor told the employees.

Sharing the way forward for employees on leave, he said that OYO has created a set of options for all 'OYOpreneurs' on leave with limited benefits in India to make a decision that is best aligned with their longer-term career goals and financial requirements.

"You can either choose to opt for the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) or continue the LwLB period by another 6 months until February 28, 2021. While the choice is yours to make, we request your attention, as there are several elements to the proposal that are important and will help you make an informed decision," he said.

Under the Voluntary Separation Program (VSP), the affected employees will be given the benefits including financial assistance, relaxation on ESOP vesting, health and wellness, continued health coverage, parental insurance, career transition support among others.

The extended leave with limited benefits include health and wellness, continued health coverage, parental insurance, extension of OYO Exigency, financial assistance in the form of school education and vaccination allowance among others.

The last date for the impacted employee to share their decision with OYO is September 11, 2020.

In April, OYO had announced to send some of its employees in India on a leave starting May 4, whereby they would get limited benefits.