Danube Group is the first Middle East company to pay back salary cut down during COVID-19

MUSCAT: Danube Group, a Dubai-based conglomerate is the first-ever company of the Middle East to return 30 per cent of the salary cut down during COVID-19 pandemic in April and May across the group.
The decision was complemented by the organisation of rehiring over 350 people at a time when other organisations are either cutting down on their workforce or asking their employees to stay onboard without being paid for an indefinite period.
COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe; businesses are facing weakened financial markets, disruption to workplace operations, and economic uncertainty. We have seen unprecedented measures taken by the world to prevent the spread of the disease including mandatory work from home instructions and business shutdowns. During this time a decision like this will for sure motivate the employees to go beyond the limit and deliver the best possible result to the organization.
The employees were extremely happy and one of the employees said, “We are blessed to be in a company who treats us like a family. Though during this tough time, the salary was deducted we are happy to get the same back in our account. “
“Our group has been doing considerably well. Of course, there had been some hitches along the way due to this pandemic and we found that nothing was unmanageable on account of the determination of our employees to sail through this biological and economic disaster intact. Those efforts have now translated into us being able to hire more people now and return the salary that was deducted,” said Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group.
“We have been able to the reach where we are with the support and determination of our employees and we thought, having more of them would take us further than where we are today. On top of that, we feel it is our responsibility to return the amount as I was feeling sorry about this whole deduction process. Trust me not even once the salary of our staff is delayed in the last 27 years and this deduction was the first time in Danube’s history. Hence I am extremely happy," he further added.
Decisions like these are required now more than ever to keep the economy in good shape after taking hits after hits due to this pandemic. Earlier this year, Danube Group also distributed one million dirhams worth of food kits across UAE among those, who required it either because they had lost their jobs during the outbreak or because they required it as they had not been paid salaries due to the situation caused by the pandemic.