Google setting up COVID-19 fund to aid temp and non-payroll staff

Google is the process of setting up a fund for its temporary employees and third-party staff members, to enable those affected by COVID-19, also called Coronavirus, to take paid sick leaves.

The fund, which will be deployed globally, will compensate those diagnosed with the disease as well as those quarantined.

Google said the fund is being set up to help sick employees who cannot take the benefit of work from home, or are not covered by vendor companies or governments.

“Working with our partners, this fund will mean that members of our extended workforce will be compensated for their normal working hours if they can’t come to work for these reasons. We are carefully monitoring the situation and will continue to assess any adjustments needed over the coming months,” the company said in a statement.

As of December 31, 2019, Google had 1,18,899 full-time employees on its payroll. Its temporary staff strength is about 3% of the overall workforce, while independent contractors comprise less than 0.5%.

Last week, Google said it will provide compensation to all its affected personnel as well as employees working remotely on account of the COVID-19 virus.

As of March 11, the virus had globally affected well over 1,18,000 people and resulted in over 4,200 deaths, as per data released by the World Health Organisation. Of this, 60 cases were from India, 44 of which were Indian nationals and 16 Italians.