Mumbai: The pandemic outbreak on its second wave is leading to unparalleled losses across all the sectors, and it is also impacting the life and livelihood of millions employed. One of the major sectors that the pandemic has hit is the media industry. Many media houses saw the crisis as an opportunity for their inhuman and illegal approaches towards their employees. They made use of the situation to trim their workforce by laying off people and began to implement pay cuts at the beginning of the outbreak, and the process is still being continued.
According to reports, various Journalists Unions have approached the Supreme Court with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against all media organizations who laid off employees or forced them to take remuneration kickbacks in the wake of the nationwide lockdown. However, thousands of Media professionals and Journalists lost their jobs when their families needed the most from their bread winnners.
In this scenario, Viacom 18 and Network18 News Network’s Managing Director Rahul Joshi’s Mail to employees is standing out for the empathetic and employee concern elements. The organization has decided to pay all eligible employees the variable portion of remuneration for the last appraisal year.
This is the second time, Viacom 18 and Network18 News Network has empathetically stood by its workforce during the pandemic. Last year in October, Joshi had written to the employees stating the reduction in compensation affected in May 2020 is reversed and with retrospective effect.
The mail read, “The second Covid wave is ravaging through the country, and many of us, our friends, colleagues, and families, have been caught in its swell. Since I’m personally in touch with many colleagues, I’m acutely aware of the hardships being faced by you. This period may have added unforeseen costs to many household budgets.”
It further read, “To mitigate some of the pain caused by the pandemic, the company has decided to pay all eligible employees the variable portion of remuneration for the last appraisal year, ahead of schedule and before the appraisal process is complete. Later today, your bank accounts will be credited with 100% of your variable pay irrespective of performance ratings.”
“This gesture of 100% variable payout irrespective of performance this year is a small token of the company’s appreciation of your efforts during these challenging times. It’s yet another example of the sensitivity of our parents, the Reliance group, which, as you all know, is leaving no stone unturned to keep us safe and secure, the mail concluded”.
