Here’s how Amsterdam-based Picnic’s new open-source tool helps companies adhere to curfew rules

We are at a strange and uncertain phase of the pandemic. On one hand, the COVID-19 vaccines have offered a certain amount of respite to the weary minds of people around the world, on the other, the mutant strains are causing havoc. In order to curtail the spread of the new variant of the coronavirus, several European countries have implemented lockdowns and curfews again. The Netherlands is one such country that has tightened the lockdown measures in response to concerns about new variants of the virus. 

Last month, the Dutch government implemented a night-time curfew – between 21.00 and 4.30 – throughout the Netherlands. Recently, the government extended the night-time curfew until 04.30 on Wednesday 3 March. According to the rules, people are not allowed to go outdoors without a valid reason. “If you have to go out for work-related reasons, you must also be able to show an employer’s declaration for curfew exemption. Your employer will determine whether it is necessary for you to be outdoors during curfew hours. If so, they will complete the form on your behalf.”

In order to help businesses struggling to adhere to the curfew rules, especially with issuing employer statements in relation to the curfew/avondklok, Amsterdam-based Picnic announced that it has developed a tool that automatically generates personalised employer statements based on employee’s personalia and working hours.

Employment Statement Generator 

According to the company, the tool is running on Google sheets “and saves all the admin hassle.” Notably, on Tuesday, it also announced that it is open-sourcing its solution. 

“It runs as Google Script, uses Google Slides for pdf generation, and Google Spreadsheet for logging and configuration,” mentions the company. 

Modus Operandi

According to Picnic, here’s how it works: 

1. A web app to create case-by-case individual statements

2. A script to create automated bulk statements

3. Flexible communication by Email, slack, print, URL

4. Logging for full traceability

5. Low code stack for rapid deployment

The Dutch company credits the development of this solution to Simon Baars, who works as a software engineer with the company. According to Baars’ posting on Github, this tool consists of two components, that can be used independently of each other – a web-frontend in which statements can be generated based on manual input, and an automated script that generates statements based on a Google Sheet. Baars has also shared the installation and set up guide for the tool here. 

Businesses can try out the tool here.