ZF India extends support to cover COVID 19 vaccination costs for all employees and support staff

• ZF to run voluntary vaccination program and reimburse vaccination costs for all employees including contracts workers & support staff.
• The program will be implemented in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Government of India
• ZF India, Pune to provide free shuttle services to the vaccination camp and support create awareness about vaccination amongst the communities through PHC (Primary health Care), Chakan
• ZF Group will extend Hybrid working for employees in India 

Pune, 13^th April 2021: ZF, a leader in driveline and chassis technology as well as active and passive safety technology, has announced that it will cover the cost of COVID 19 vaccinations for all its on-roll employees in India and their dependents including parents. With this initiative, ZF India will also support contract workers and support staff.

ZF India, Pune will also work with Primary Health Care centre, Karanjvihire, which is managing about 5 villages in Chakan zone. The PHE team is already working on vaccination campaign which includes awareness drives and vaccination. ZF India will provide them a 32-seater vehicle so that the doctors and health care staff can travel to these 5 villages and promote and pick-up & drop the villagers for vaccination. ZF India will pay a vital role in providing a vehicle for such a drive. The vehicle will be with the PHC for 3 months starting from April 6, 2021 to July 5, 2021.

ZF views this vaccination drive as a great opportunity to overcome the coronavirus crisis in general and to immunize its workforce. The drive has been rolled out with an aim to safeguard the wellbeing of the employees across its offices in Pune, Coimbatore and Hyderabad. Over 3,000 employees and their families will be able to benefit from this reimbursement drive. This exercise is aimed to help the vaccination effort of the Government of India against the spread of the deadly pandemic. The drive will be strictly implemented in accordance with the guidelines issued by the central government.

ZF also wants to take the positive learnings and experiences from the pandemic and extend Hybrid working for employees. A combination of onsite working with two to three days virtual working per week, if job and site-specific responsibilities allow. This is what a normal working week at ZF could look like in the future. This global initiative would be adapted for each country and shaped per the local regulations and requirements.

Speaking about the vaccination program, Mrs. Aparnnaa Shriram head of HR Region India said, “Since the start of the pandemic we at ZF have taken all the necessary precautions and extended support to our employees and staff members to ensure their safety and wellbeing. Over the last several months, a concerted effort on part of our safety committee, task forces and leadership team enabled us to develop a pandemic response plan along with detailed guidelines for working and managing teams remotely. With the second wave of the pandemic hitting most of the regions in India, ZF considers the vaccination against Covid-19 to be an important step in combating the coronavirus crisis and therefore supports its implementation. The vaccination drive is in line with our global safety policy of safeguarding our employees and their families along with our contract workforce who have been an important and a steady asset for our organization”

Commenting on the initiative Mr. Suresh KV, President, ZF India said, “As an Organization, we were able to demonstrate great flexibility, resilience and commitment to overcome challenges and ensure personal well-being and business continuity.  Despite a volatile business environment, the organization keeps an eye on the future growth potential of the country and continues to invest and grow within the region. Our Technology Centre in Hyderabad, which is a key pillar for ZF Groups software and digital product development and which is deeply integrated into the global ZF R&D network has grown substantially in terms of revenue as well as headcount during 2020 and continues with  plans of multifold growth in 2021. We were able to support our customers transitioning to BSVI technologies with the right technology solutions and adaptations. We give the credit to our employees to gift the organization with such high productivity and commitment during these testing times.”

ZF has been active in maintaining an equilibrium between the health and wellbeing of its employees and sustaining business continuity. Within a short time span the company was instrumental in shifting engineering and support function operations into a digital work environment. Employees were reimbursed with internet costs, dongles, electricity charges along with hardship allowance for employees in the production area for the vulnerable period during unlock phases. Additionally, through its ZFit initiative, the company has set up taskforces to ensure mental health stability and employee motivation.

Although individual participation is always based on a personal, autonomous decision, ZF encourages its employees to participate in this drive and to shield themselves from the virus.  The ZF vaccination drive in India is part of ZF groups global initiative.