The company has a total workforce of about 350 staff. In addition, company has about 550 contract/off-roll employees, most of whom are based at the warehouse locations of the shippers and remaining are involved in shared services.
HR policy, working conditions and terms of employment: The company has documented HR policies and procedures which cover all operational matters as well as the grievance mechanism, safety and health procedures, and prevention of sexual harassment mechanism. Also, the company has a code of conduct which covers confidentiality, conflict of interest, equal opportunity health and safety, maintenance of reliable records, anti-corruption policies and controls, etc. All policies are displayed on the HR management system (HRMS) and employees can access them with their individual login ids. Also, the policies are communicated during induction process by the HR department. All employees have a written appointment letter from the company explaining the working conditions and terms of employment; and their salaries are paid through the bank accounts. The policies were noted to be consistent with PS2 requirements.
Non-discrimination: Through its code of conduct, the company has committed to a policy on equal opportunity, workforce diversity and non-discrimination.
Freedom of association: Currently there is no staff union at the company. However, the company does not restrict formation of employee unions and will document a policy as part of the code of conduct on the same.
Grievance mechanism: The company has a documented grievance framework called “Awaaz” (meaning “the voice”). The framework defines the grievance, various causes for grievances and their priority. The framework provides opportunity for both informal grievance redressal (through the open door policy) as well as formal escalation process (step ladder process). There are five levels of escalation available under the framework with a grievance committee in place at the highest level. The employees can raises grievances through a dedicated email address which is accessed by the members of the grievance committee. As required under PS2, the framework includes provisions of maintaining confidentiality and enabling the employee to raise the grievances without fear of reprisal. Till now, the company has not received any grievances through the formal process.
The company has a significant number of women staff members. Therefore, in line with the applicable regulatory requirements, the company has formulated and implement an anti sexual harassment policy and constituted a specific internal complaints committee (ICC) with more female members as well as an external member. Similar to grievance framework, there is a dedicated email address for raising sexual harassment related complaints.
In addition to the display of policies on the HRMS, company conducts specific communication on the grievance framework and prevention of sexual harassment policies and procedures separately.
Prevention of child labor and forced and bonded labor: Considering the operations and nature of the workforce, no child or forced and bonded labor is expected in the company’s own operations. The company’s code of conduct includes commitment on prevention of child labor. Also, the company has a standard operating procedure (SOP) on social accountability which includes procedures on prevention of child labor and forced or compulsory labor including (a) collection of age proof documents of all employees at joining; (b) employing persons above 18 years; (c) providing details of salary and deductions to all employees through offer and appointment letters; (d) no material collateral of value to be collected from the employees; and (e) clear separation policy.
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS): Considering the type of operations, there are no significant OHS risks or impacts. The company, however, has a safety handbook. The handbook explains procedures on first-aid, emergency response, general safety and ergonomics. The HR and administration departments are responsible for implementation of these procedures. The company has constituted emergency response teams and conducts regular trainings and mock drills on the emergency procedures. Also, company’s offices are provided with canteen and other facilities for short –breaks and for recreation.
Transporters and truck drivers: The transporter and drivers are empaneled through the app. The basic documents (as explained in the project description) are submitted before empanelment and trip acceptance. The truck reports at the warehouse and the off-roll employee verifies the truck documentation, type and quality of the truck with respect to the specifications required for the trip and shipper’s documentation. Once the trip is initiated, it is tracked through the app till delivery.
The truck drivers are engaged by the transporter and they are paid by them. Though the company has contracts with its shippers for a defined period, which describe basic compliance requirements (including in some cases on environmental, health and safety and road safety) to be followed during the trip, the company issues GCN for each of the shipments, which is essentially a trip level contracts with its transporters. To ensure that the company implements and monitors implementation of basic compliance requirements including on prevention of child labor and road safety, the company will conduct a review of applicable legal and contractual requirements to identify specific EHS requirements (including but not limited to road safety, preventive maintenance of trucks and prevention of child and forced labor) which it is required to ensure implementation by the transporters and trucks. Based on the review, the company will develop an action plan which would describe the changes to be made in the current empanelment and trip monitoring processes to ensure compliance with these requirements and their implementation timelines. The plan would be agreed with IFC and implemented within agreed timelines.
Third party workers: The company employs its off-roll employees through one agency across the country. All employees sign a written contract with the agency which explains various terms and conditions of their employment. The HR department of the company also conducts an induction session for these employees either on call or face-to-face (depending upon the numbers) explaining the policies and terms of their employment. As most of these employees are based at the warehouse locations (of various clients), the attendance of these employees is tracked through company’s app as well as reported by their respective managers. Based on the review of available documentation, the wages, working hours and benefits were noted to be in line with the statutory requirements. These workers are also provided basic operations training and have access to the grievance mechanism of the company.
