The multinational call centers used by dozens of leading British companies have been criticized for what the union calls intrusive monitoring of employees working from home and their families, and requiring employees to hand over biometric and medical data.
The union stated that Teleperformance has also responded to a series of calls from British government departments and is “breaking the boundaries of workers” to avoid long-term work from home amid the coronavirus, and accused the company of unfairly targeting several opposing employees.
Although these claims did not directly affect the company’s 10,000 British employees, some criticisms have focused on countries where English-speaking employees answer calls from British customers, such as Greece and Albania.
The French-headquartered company has approximately 380,000 employees in 34 countries/regions. It stated that it fully complies with all local and international laws, and employee feedback shows an overwhelmingly positive response.
But a staff member who worked with a British client in an Albanian call center said she was fired after she opposed video surveillance while working at her parents’ home, despite her recent promotion.
In the UK, the company’s clients include the British government’s health and education departments, NHS Digital, student loan companies, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. The companies it serves include Vodafone, eBay, Aviva, Volkswagen and The Guardian.
These revelations occurred after some British Teleperformance domestic workers March was told This year is expected to be remotely monitored by cameras, which will check whether they are eating, looking at their mobile phones or leaving their desks.
After the British employees contacted the Guardian, they were told that this would not happen. Teleperformance insists that the cameras launched in the UK have never been used for remote monitoring, but only for training and chatting with colleagues.
However, the company’s practices in other countries have caused concerns. Barbara Meçaj, a 29-year-old philosophy graduate who handled phone calls from customers in the UK for a multinational company, said that she decided to manually cover the installed webcam to monitor her work at home.
Within a few days, Meçaj said that she was told that her job performance had been “re-evaluated” and she was fired. “Before this, everything went smoothly. I did a good job and I was promoted,” she said.
Some of the strictest domestic working conditions seem to involve Teleperformance employees Colombia, Mainly dealing with American customers. In addition to so-called “real-time” video surveillance, employees can also be asked to provide biometric details and even the results of a physical examination.
A contract seen by The Guardian stated that employees must agree that photos and videos of themselves, their families and children can be disseminated within the company, and that they will be tested by a polygraph.
An anonymous Colombian worker said that assuming there is no choice but to agree: “Every day you feel that you have no privacy. This is our face, our life. This is the space in our home, our family. We don’t want to To do this, but we have to do it to get the job done.”
Remote performers are in Greece, Another multilingual location that handles calls from the UK was told that at home, they must have an “isolated work area, free of distractions, clutter, and all background noise.”
According to a local contract seen by The Guardian, if the employee’s salary is higher than the local minimum wage, which is currently 9,100 Euros (£7,700) per year, it is expected that this independent working space will be provided and any other expenses, such as the Internet, will be provided. And electricity bills.
A Teleperformance spokesperson stated that all Greek employees received “discretionary amounts” of these expenses. However, local employees said that this is not the case. The extra salary is usually for language skills. The salary of employees is the same whether working at home or in the office.
Christy Hoffman, secretary-general of the UNI Global Alliance, said that this type of home monitoring “forces workers to choose between being monitored and being hired.”
A Teleperformance spokesperson stated that the company uses webcams “primarily for collaborative purposes,” such as meetings and training.
They said: “Anywhere we operate, Teleperformance complies with all local, national and international laws, regulations and standards applicable to our business, including laws, regulations and standards related to security, privacy and compliance, and if more High specific customer requirements.
“Before using webcams, we followed GDPR guidelines to assess data protection risks. The Covid-19 crisis has not changed Teleperformance’s commitment to the principles and regulations under which the privacy of employees is protected.”
