Mobile operators Grameenphone and Banglalink today asked all their employees to stay at home and work online as a preventive measure against coronavirus infection.
Management of Grameenphone issued a notice in this regard, said Md Hasan, head of external communication of the market leader carrier.
"Safety is our foremost concern; we have been preparing to keep our employees and associated business partners safe following the standard guidelines provided by relevant authorities," he said in a statement.
"We have initiated business contingency planning to protect our employees while ensuring service continuity for our valuable 7.65 crore customers who need us the most in this uncertain time," Hasan said.
Employees engaged in roles that are not customer-facing have been encouraged to work from home.
"Customer-facing employees have been encouraged to take the necessary safety measures and focus on providing services through digital technology, which limits their physical contacts and movement. We will assess the development and decide on the next action accordingly," the official added.
Meanwhile, Banglalink also issued a notice on working from home for its 1,100 employees.
"In light of the worldwide outbreak of COVID -19 and pandemic declaration by WHO, Banglalink -- being a socially responsible company -- is actively monitoring the situation and preparing to ensure full organisation wide readiness in case of adverse local development," the notice read.
"Accordingly, Banglalink (following Veon's guidance) has decided to implement 'work from home' for most of the employees for a period of two weeks commencing from March 18, 2020 except essential services, such as network operation, customer service, LIC support etc."
During this time, Banglalink has encouraged its employees to limit their outside interactions to an absolute minimum and in emergency situations only to prevent from being exposed to COVID -19.
"The key principle behind this initiative is to ensure zero impact on network availability, sales services, customer care and we are determined to maintain all ongoing services at the highest level of quality," according to the notice.
To ensure employee's health and safety, Banglalink has taken several measures including travel restrictions, avoidance of mass gatherings, following all the guidelines related to ensure disinfection and personal hygiene in all Banglalink offices and service centers, the notice added.
