NEW DELHI:

Companies including Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), Coca-Cola KFC and Dabur , are either asking their staff to work out of home or are offering flexible timings as part of their contingency plans amid severe pollution in Delhi NCR .On Sunday, H&M sent out an email to its Delhi office employees that they should work out of home on Monday and they can come late or leave early Tuesday onwards until November 15. Even the store staff has been asked to take additional breaks until November 15. A spokesperson said wherever feasible, it has decided that the first shift in stores will start 8 am onwards to avoid the peak pollution hours of early morning.Beverage maker Coca-Cola has allowed flexible or the work from home option to its staff for a week.DLF Golf & Country Club, which is currently hosting the Ministry of Tourism promoted Asia Pacific Golf Summit — an international conference on the business of golf — has pressed a series of plan B options. It has shifted all activities indoors for the entire summit, and installed over a dozen air purifying machines at the summit hall, besides changing the menu to “detoxifying.” Vishal Bharti, vice president for operations, DLF Golf Resorts, said, “All this has been done keeping with delegates’ well-being in mind which is our top priority.”Others like the local arm of fast food restaurant chain KFC has offered employees the option to work from home until November 6.Homegrown packaged consumer goods maker Dabur HR executive director V Krishnan said the company has introduced a carpool app to connect colleagues to plan their daily commute, aimed at reducing pollution and the carbon footprint.Gurgaon-based packaged foods company Nestle, maker of Maggi noodles and Nescafe coffee, which has equipped its field force with masks, is arranging an awareness session with a company doctor, and exploring the work from home option. “We have also installed air filters, increased the number of plants and stepped up car-pooling,” a spokesperson said.