Uber is strongly recommending that employees in the US and many international offices work remotely through April 6 to limit spread of coronavirus

• Uber has encouraged its US, Canada, Japan, Europe, and South Korea-based employees to work remotely through April 6 to limit the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease, as first reported by The New York Times reporter Mike Isaac and confirmed to Business Insider.
• Uber had nearly 27,000 employees globally as of last December, with around 16,000 located outside the US, according to its latest annual earnings filing.
• The guidance does not apply to drivers and delivery workers, who Uber considers independent contractors.
• After facing criticism from lawmakers over its initial response, Uber announced that it would compensate drivers and delivery workers who are diagnosed with coronavirus or placed in mandatory quarantine.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Uber has strongly recommended that employees based in the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, or South Korea work from home through April 6 to help limit the spread of COVID-19, the coronavirus disease.

The guidance, emailed to employees by Uber's global head of operations, Andrew Macdonald, was first reported Wednesday by The New York Times reporter Mike Isaac and confirmed to Business Insider by an Uber spokesperson.

Uber had around 26,900 employees worldwide as of the end of 2019, including 16,200 outside the US, according to the company's latest 10-K SEC filing.

"It's not lost on us that many of our employees can't work from home due to the nature of their roles. Their work requires access to on-premises tools or in-person support for drivers and delivery people," Macdonald's email read, adding that Uber would communicate individually with those employees and others who "have used up their sick leave or aren't comfortable coming into the office."

Uber is also introducing temperature checks and additional cleaning measures at certain locations, according to the email.

The guidance doesn't apply to Uber drivers and delivery workers, who the company considers independent contractors. After Business Insider reported in late February that drivers had not heard from Uber about COVID-19, the company issued guidance instructing drivers to stay home if they felt sick.

However, critics said that ignored the fact that, unlike salaried employees, staying home would affect their income. After Sen. Mark Warner sent Uber a letter calling on it to do more, the company said last Friday that it would compensate drivers who are diagnosed with the coronavirus or placed in mandatory quarantine.

Uber's remote work policy places it in line with other major companies including Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft who have advised or mandated that employees work from home in an effort to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Read Macdonald's full email below (with emphasis his):