Badly hit due to the coronavirus pandemic, Treebo Hotels has said it is offering a paid voluntary resignation scheme (PVRS) to 400 of its employees the save the firm going under, as per an Economic Times report.

According to an Economic Times report, employees have been asked to inform by April 8 if they would like to accept the offer and resign. They will be paid a month’s salary in advance, in addition to the pay for the few days they have worked in April.

If things return to normal earlier than anticipated and the staff are required back, some of them may be taken back. The company says it does not want to have a situation where it has to resume operations and recruit all over again.  

The founders of Treebo, Sidharth Gupta and Rahul Chaudhary are reported to have held a townhall, following which the HR department has addressed an email to the employees explaining how the lockdown has meant all hotels are shut and there is no revenue. The cash reserve of the startup is getting exhausted and things can only get worse from hereon. They have fixed a minimum payout of Rs 30,000 under the PVRS.

One facility being extended to the staff is they will be entitled to the insurance cover being held in place till its validity though the employee may cease to be in service. The company says it has spoken to the insurance company in this regard.

Treebo says this need not be perceived to be a layoff. They say there may be anxiety among the staff about their future and this way, they have the liberty to seek alternate avenues. The company itself has setup a small group that can help the employees with their placements in other companies.

As per the report, the company does not see things improving for at least the next three months.