Business process outsourcing calls for urgent help (Last of two parts)

Nonetheless, call-center agent Jerson Beltran, who said that he neither smokes nor uses any prohibited substances and hardly drinks (except on special occasions), stressed that having vices depends entirely on an individual’s personal choices. Another business process outsourcing (bpo) employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, ranted on the findings, saying: “[Many] call-center workers do smoke, get sick” and indulge in a lot of vices, “but that’s not even half of us.”

But Beltran revealed that he and his colleagues were all subjected to harsh, demoralizing and stress-inducing policies that all the BPO companies he worked for usually implemented. They could not help but think that they were being treated unfairly and inhumanely, yet they could not do anything except tolerate it.

One instance, he said, was in July, when Typhoon Basyang hit the country. He and his co-workers had to brave the storm and risk their lives just to get to work; absences and tardiness can earn them accumulated points toward termination. “I could not afford to lose my job because I’m the breadwinner [in] our family and I have a 3-year-old daughter,” he said.

Oscar Sañez, the president and chief executive officer of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), pointed out that getting sick or having vices could be attributed to an individual’s self-discipline or self-management. Health problems, for example, arise when workers do not have complete rest. Where member-companies are concerned, he said, the best practices for their employees’ welfare are being implemented.

“There’s no risk if you [sleep] the required number of hours at the appropriate time, depending on your shift. We make sure that we educate our employees—that they eat right and sleep right, no matter what shift they are in the company; and at the same time, we also educate them on other wellness programs, including nutrition, sports and exercise [regimens],” Sanez added.

He said that many of BPAP’s 280 members in the industry are very supportive of these programs. Sanez claimed that they also offer comprehensive medical benefits, which are among the reasons why BPO workers are encouraged to perform their job well. The companies have also provided first-class office facilities such as resting areas, lounges, pantries and entertainment and recreation clubs—a clear indication that the companies pamper their workers. They regularly come up with team-development and team-building activities to reinforce camaraderie.

In many developed countries, having three shifts or 24/7 operations are quite common, even in other industries. “It’s a new phenomenon in the Philippines,” he emphasized, saying that people here are still adjusting to that set-up. As a result, it has been the subject of debates. But BPO companies usually cater to clients from the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries that have very different time zones from the Philippines, so most workers have to be assigned to the night shift. Sañez said that the industry actually provides lots of great opportunities for Filipino workers to hone their skills here instead of going abroad.

Rep. Raymond Palatino of Kabataan party-list assured, though, that he does not wish to antagonize the BPO industry because it generates jobs and creates revenue.

“It just has to be balanced,” he said.

“We don’t want them stigmatized, but data about the [BPO] workers’ conditions are just the result of surveys,” Palatino said.

The congressman revealed that his office continues to receive complaints from BPO workers and their parents through the party-list’s website and its Quezon City headquarters. He has coordinated with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on this matter and they have agreed on plans to conduct an industry-wide consultation, initiate stakeholders’ meetings to set standards, give seminars and distribute brochures to BPO workers so they would know their rights.

“The industry is swarmed by [young people] who don’t have [previous] work experience . . . DOLE should have an affirmative action to inform [BPO employees] of their rights because they might [think] that since their [salaries are] above minimum wage,” they won’t be exploited or subjected to unfair labor practices, Palatino said.

Palatino, the author of House Bill 6921, or the “Act Ensuring the Welfare and Protection of Business Process Outsourcing [BPO] Workers and the Recognition of Their Rights as Provided For in the Labor Code of the Philippines,” said that the bill also aims to call the attention of BPO companies to recognize and abide by the labor law regarding the workers’ right to form a union or an association.

In this regard, Sañez pointed out, “If you’re the industry that promotes the rights of the workers and you’re able to work for [their] benefit and welfare . . . what’s the point in unionizing? There must be a good reason why our workers are not unionized. They are very well taken care of. Otherwise, they would have [formed unions five, 10 years ago,] but it’s not happening. It’s the workers’ right; any worker from any industry can organize.”

Beltran said that he could only hope that Sañez would investigate the real situation inside BPO companies.

Indeed, he conceded, there are facilities and perks that call-center workers do enjoy, but they are compelled to abide by harsh rules, regulations and agreements that s prohibit forming of unions or similar associations. –MARIA TERESA YOSORESCORRESPONDENT, Manila Times