Unacademy launches UCARE, extends work-from-home until Jan 1, 2021

Unacademy, India’s largest online education platform, launched UCARE - a health and safety initiative to provide COVID-19 related relief and support to all its employees and their dependants. The company has also extended its work-from-home policy for all employees until January 1, 2021.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UCARE initiative includes various measures to ensure the health and safety of the employees and their families.

• COVID-19 Tests: Employees can claim reimbursement for COVID-19 tests done for themselves and their families. 
• Health Kits: Employees can claim a one time reimbursement for the purchase of masks, hand-wash liquids, sanitisers, thermometer, oximeter etc. 
• Home Office: Employees will be provided an allowance for the setting up of necessary infrastructure at home for seamless working.
• Quarantine: In case a COVID-19 positive employee cannot undergo home quarantine, hotel quarantine facilities will be made available at no cost.
• Helpline: A 24/7 counselling helpline is being made available for any kind of assistance to employees and their families.

In addition to UCARE, a ‘Special Leaves’ policy has been implemented wherein any employee who may have been exposed to the virus and tests positive will be entitled to a ‘Special Leave’ wherein s/he will be entitled to full pay while other regular leaves such as Sick Leaves and Privilege Leaves remain unaffected. These leaves can also be availed for the duration of home quarantine prescribed by doctors.

“Employees are the backbone of our organisation and their safety and wellbeing is of utmost importance to us. From the early days of the pandemic, we have been ahead of the curve in assessing the impact on employees’ lives and the need for agility to adapt to situations. While we have taken several steps in recent months to support our staff, the launch of UCARE and extension of work-from-home until the year-end, is the result of taking a holistic view of various possible needs of our employees and their immediate families,” said Tina Balachandran, Vice President - Human Resources, Unacademy.