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Philippines Senator Urges Labor Department to Investigate Call Center Employee Complaints
The global COVID-19 pandemic has changed the call center landscape. Call center, once packed and bustling operations, have had to find new ways to operate that adhere to social-distancing guidelines. Some companies have staggered the number of employees at physical facilities, spreading them out. Others have embraced the work-at-home model.
The Philippines – sometimes called the call center capital of the world – has seen a bumpy transition to call center work during the pandemic. Philippines Senator Imee Marcos this week urged the country’s Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to investigate alleged abuses in call centers arising from flexible work arrangements, according to the Inquirer. Workers have filed a host of complaints, including non-payment of salary, refusals for returns to work after maternity leave, being denied separation benefits after lay-offs and unreimbursed purchases for home equipment, such as Internet access. Senator Marcos noted that complaints are being filed against a wide variety of call center organizations.
“The complaints are not just coming out of smaller call centers but also from top-listed companies that were earning billions in annual income. One even reportedly cut its workforce to less than half,” said Marcos, who heads the Philippines’ Senate Economic Affairs Committee.
According to Marcos, call center companies are violating Philippines labor laws, in some cases, and she noted that the abuses may be widespread, even outside of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industries.
“As stated in Labor advisories 9 and 17 this year, flexible work arrangements should go through employee consultation and be reported by companies to the nearest DOLE office with jurisdiction over the workplace,” she said. “Companies must also provide adequate support for those working from home, according to number 17, which also echoes the Labor Code on separation pay and benefits,” she added.
In the Philippines, business process outsourcers, including call centers, employ over 1.2 million workers. Companies based in the U.S. are the leading users of BPO services in the Philippines.
Edited by Maurice Nagle