ORRA sets high standards of pandemic care for internal staff

Chain stores are synonymous with organized processes. Thus, when it comes to beefing up healthcare for the raging Coronavirus, brands such as ORRA have set in emergency mechanisms rolling like no other.  The Retail Jeweller speaks with ORRA CEO Cecil De’ Santa Maria on the ground plan for the entire workforce since the pandemic set in.

In 2020, there was a special Covid cover for hospitalization purposes only. With the second wave setting in, each Orra employee was given a modified special Covid-19 insurance over and above the health package they have. This came with a special home quarantine coverage, said Cecil De’ Santa Maria. “As soon as oxygen concentrators were available, we bought a sizeable number of them at strategic locations nationwide such as in Delhi and Punjab. The priority in distribution was ORRA employees, their founding members and family members of employees,” he said.

Thereafter, ORRA executed proper concentrator delivery through an administration route that took place on WhatsApp. Every business manager, regional business manager and the retail sales head was authorized to verify the seriousness of health conditions of Covid-19 infected employees, so as to provide care in a justified manner. 

ORRA has roughly about 650 employees across India, all of whom have been protected by a ‘Covid warrior line’ comprising the business managers, the head of HR operation and the head of sales. “The head of HR operation is the point of contact and has 6-10 people working for him. As soon as we come to know about somebody getting infected, the HR team informs the business manager and regional sales heads concerned. Help thereafter starts reaching the infected staff,” said De’ Santa Maria.

Despite selfless initiatives like this, the second wave of the novel coronavirus has been snatching our beloved ones at a scary rate. Facing tragic circumstances like these, ORRA has literally set an example of staff responsibility with two key decisions. First, in the event of the demise of an ORRA employee, the dependents get a whole year of the person’s salary over and above all active insurances with the company. “Besides, if the spouse of those departed hold requisite skills, ORRA is ready to absorb them into the company. We are also providing fully paid 14-day quarantine leaves to those getting diagnosed positive and requiring isolation for recovery,” concluded De’ Santa Maria.

Written by Shubham Dasgupta