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Meesho, the social commerce unicorn, has declared a company-wide break for its employees from November 4 to 14, in what it calls a “Reset and Recharge” policy.

A statement from Meesho said the 10-day break aims to prioritise employee well-being, where they can completely unplug from work — to rest and rejuvenate. The unicorn claimed that it is an industry-first move by an Indian startup to prioritise employee well-being and mental health support.

Meesho said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has reflected the need to go back to the basics, and to be understanding and empathetic to each other. It noted that the well-being of its employees and their families has been its top priority.

Since the onset of the pandemic, Meesho said it has implemented multiple initiatives to ensure that employees have all the support they need. Some of these included a four-day workweek in the month of May 2021 — during the peak of the second wave, a MeeCare reimbursement package to cover all expenses incurred during home quarantine and hospitalisation, setting up of a Rs 5 crore corpus for COVID-19 care financial support, vaccination drives for employees and dependents, among several other efforts.

Online brokerage unicorn Zerodha has also set new health goals for its employees, where it will reward those who meet the fitness targets with one month’s salary as a bonus payment.

Recently, in a series of posts on the micro-blogging site Twitter, Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath noted how the lockdown had impacted the health of the employees.

He asked all the Zerodha employees to set a 12-month ‘get health’ target and update the progress every month to ensure accountability.

The pandemic has taken a toll on employee well-being, especially regarding the serious work-life imbalance. At the height of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, many startups undertook very proactive measures to ensure the well-being of their employees.