Staff at Publicis Groupe Australia have joined advertising industry colleagues in working from home to help limit the spread of the coronavirus
WPP, Omnicom, IPG Mediabrands, M&C Saatchi and Dentsu confirmed earlier in the week of plans to switch to remote working.
Publicis employees in Australia are due to return to the office on Monday, March 30, "pending further developments arising".
In a statement, Publicis Groupe Australia says the priority is the health and safety of its teams.
"Throughout this time, we have restricted travel, with a recommendation to prioritise video conference and Skype where possible," says Publicis.
"We have put into place a 24/7COVID-19 support team across global time zones who are managing individual employee requests.
"Following the increased measures announced by the Australian government over the weekend, since yesterday Publicis Groupe Australia’s creative and media agencies have been transitioning to work from home, returning to the office on Monday, March 30, pending further developments arising.
"Our digital business transformation arm Publicis Sapient has also encouraged all staff to work from home and is establishing protocols for staff supporting clients.
"We will continue to serve our clients with our business continuity strategy, including mobile workforce enablement so that teams are able to work remotely in compliance with local regulations, our IT Security & Privacy Policies and specific client needs per regulatory requirements.
"Further, we are confident that our existing flexible working framework, Publicis Liberté, has already laid some of the knowledge and foundations to this way of working.
"We are continuously monitoring the COVID-19 virus situation and in addition to the increased measures we are taking to ensure the safety of our employees, we remain in alignment with the World Health Organisation (WHO), as well as advice from local authorities in our market."
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