Narayan AmmachchiA senator in the Philippines has urged the country’s Labor Department to conduct an investigation of the alleged abuses that took place during the BPO industry’s transition to the work-at-home model following the coronavirus outbreak.
In a statement, senator Imee Marcos has said that there were a lot of complaints against several contact center firms operating in the country. Considering a report on the country’s news portal Inquirer, some employees have not been their broadband cost, and a few others, who have already lost their job, are still waiting for a severance package.
The senator, who is also pushing for a Senate investigation, alleges that some call center operators “exploited” Filipino workers amid the health crisis.
Marcos argues that BPOs are duty-bound by law to provide every teleworking employee with adequate support and questions whether they are flouting the country’s labor laws.
“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,” says Marcos.
Among the foreign BPOs, French contact center operator Teleperformance is already under investigation in the country after a report by The Financial Times showed dozens of the company’s employees sleeping in close quarters inside one of its call centers in Cebu City.
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