Back to square one

Days have been so hectic that blogs have taken a backseat. Got a day off today after nearly two weeks. During these days, I neither posted anything nor checked any post of my favourite bloggers. Will catch up soon.

Just as we are planning to go back to full-attendance in the office from December 1, emerges Omicron. Early days still. We only know that this variant has an unusually large number of mutations. We will get a clearer picture in the next week or so.

But borders are slamming shut again. It's at best a temporary measure, that will help slow down the spread of virus.

One day before Omicron was identified, India had announced that normal commercial flights will resume on December 15. Now, the plan has been revised, and a whole lot of regulations have been put in place for fliers from abroad from Dec 1. Even within India, states are making testing compulsory from travellers from some states where the numbers are high.

It will be too unrealistic to believe that one day Omicron won't surface in India. We have been doing extremely well with vaccinations, and our only hope is that the vaccine will be good against Omicron, at least keep the infection mild.

Work - home balance

Poland has made it illegal for companies, that have over 10 employees, to contact their employees during off-duty hours. If they do, they could be penalised. 

Apparently, a demand by some MPs to allow the employees the "right to disconnect" -- meaning they could switch off work-related devices outside office hours -- was rejected.

Another interesting initiative is that parents with small kids, can choose to work from home till their children turn eight years old. They don't have to seek permission from their bosses.

I doubt if any other nation has gone down the legal route this far to make WFH comfortable.

Quite a game-changer, considering COVID-19 has upended our lives in a variety of ways, and that work from home will continue even after we have banished the coronavirus.

Now everyone is saying Poland has the best bosses!

Source: Euronews, India Today, WION.