Unilever, along with mobile operators Robi, Grameenphone and Banglalink today asked all their employees to stay at home and work online as a preventive measure against coronavirus infection.

In a message posted on Unilever's website, the multinational said, "On 14 March 2020 our global CEO, Alan Jope has announced that all our office-based employees globally should work from home and this protocol will go live in all markets.

"Since the initial outbreak in China, we have put in place measures to help minimise the risk from coronavirus to our employees and their families.  Our approach has been one of abundant caution, and the speed of response and collective responsibility we have seen across Unilever has been truly heroic." 

It further said that the "these changes to our working arrangements will have a big impact on our lives", adding that the measures were taken after careful thought and consideration.

Similarly, in a message from Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi Axiata Ltd, the telco said it was "encouraging" its workers to work from home.

"Ensuring sound health of our employees and their family members is always a matter of priority for us and we have already taken a number of steps to address the crisis situation. However, as a customer-centric company, our employees are serving the customers strictly following all precautionary measures wherever their physical presence is necessary," the message reads.

Meanwhile, the management of Grameenphone issued a notice for its employees 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.

Banglalink also issued a notice on working from home for its 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.