SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) decided to postpone its return-to-office plan to prevent a virus outbreak at its Metro Manila offices after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases picked up again.
“We are carefully monitoring our COVID-19 cases across the group and adjusting our policies. For now, we encourage our employees to work from home unless otherwise required by our operations,” SMC President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang said in a statement.
The manning complement at SMC’s offices has been limited to 20%. Only those involved in critical business activities are prioritized.
SMC said its work-from-home strategy will also allow those who tested positive for COVID-19 to isolate.
“Our employees need to isolate properly, or may need to take care of family who are in isolation,” Mr. Ang said. “Working from home will both prevent a spread and strengthen the family support system during this time.”
SMC assured that all its employees will continue to receive their regular salaries.
“The company has also readied cash assistance for staff of third-party providers who cannot adopt a work-from-home setup, due to the nature of their jobs,” the company said.
SMC assured its stakeholders that its food, beverage, packaging, fuel operations, power generation, and infrastructure operations will continue. The company’s facilities are ordered to “strictly follow prescribed manning levels and prioritize only essential workers.”
SMC was able to fully vaccinate over 97% or 70,000 of its nationwide work force. Meanwhile, over 95% or 19,800 employees based in the National Capital Region (NCR) have also been fully vaccinated.
SMC began administering booster shots for employees in end-December. The initial rollout of the booster vaccination includes Metro Manila and Cebu, while the company is already planning to administer booster shots for its employees in Batangas, Laguna, Pangasinan, Iloilo, Bacolod, Isabela, and Davao throughout this week and next.
“We believe that the vaccines continue to protect us against severe disease and death even from the variant, so we are stepping up our campaign to administer booster shots to our employees and their families,” Mr. Ang said. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte
