RAWALPINDI: As a precaution to avoid the spread of Covid-19, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has introduced flexible timings to prevent its employees from gathering around biometric machines to mark their attendance.

In this regard, PIA’s chief human resource officer has issued a notification, stating the new timings will be effective from Nov 23. If any employee marks their attendance at 8am, they can leave at 4:30pm. If any employee marks their attendance at 8:30am, they can sign out at 5pm.

“The second wave of Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the country. In order to avoid any possible spread of the disease due to congestion at the Time Management System (TMS) machines because of the uniform office timings, the management has decided to introduce flexible timings for marking biometric attendance,” the notification said.

It said the arrangement is valid only for employees who were working in day general shifts (9am to 5:30pm) at all locations except airports. Hence, employees already performing their duties in shifts shall continue marking their biometric attendance as per prevailing timings.

The minimum hours that the employees are required to work are eight hours and 30 minutes. There will be two weekly off – Saturday and Sunday.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2020