BPO workers call on Labor Secretary Bello to intervene in Return-To-Office order

With days to go to before the April 1 deadline for some 1.4 million IT and BPO employees to return to their offices as per an order from the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) of the Department of Finance (DoF), the group Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) called on Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to intervene as no consultation was done to get the voice and participation of workers affected.

 

“The RTO is a recipe for disaster. It is an ‘April Fools’ prank’ that endangers occupational safety and health, and work-life balance,” stated Bryan Nadua of ICCAW and a BPO employee in Pasig. The FIRB cited the CREATE Law that provides that BPO as economic zones must “exclusively conducted or operated within the geographical boundaries of the zone or freeport.”

 

Yesterday, Nadua along with other BPO employees Charmaine Doble and KR Raposas held a press conference to emphasize the urgency of the matter. The concerned BPO workers also expressed support for the Change.org petition of the groups BPO Employees for Leni-Kiko and IT&BPO Professionals for Leni and Kiko opposing the return to office order

 

Nadua insisted that “Dapat balik trabahong ligtas para sa BPO workers. Mandating the return to office of 1.4 million IT and BPO workers on the sole basis of economic and tax reasons disregards the issue of health and safety of employees.”

 

“Even before the pandemic, if one BPO employee gets a cough or cold, in a day or two, someone else will show similar symptoms due to infection. Headsets too are sometimes shared among employees and are another way by which COVID-19 might be easily transmitted in a 100% fully operational scenario,” averred Jodie Villanueva, a former Customer Service Representative before becoming an HR Manager in a BPO in one of her previous engagements. Villanue represented the women’s committee of Partido Manggagawa in the presscon yesterday.

 

According to the concerned BPO workers, alternatives to a full RTO by April 1 can be considered such as 50 to 75% of BPO workers returning to the office and implementing a compressed work week while maintaining the work from home or anywhere for the rest of the week.

 

The FB livestream of the presscon can be publicly accessed at https://fb.watch/b-DGOQoOZ8/ [note: there was no audio at the start of the video due to technical issues but the audio returns around 2:12].

 

BPO workers shout out against RTO: https://www.facebook.com/649423938410656/videos/362895729061725/

March 28, 2022

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers

 

BPO workers welcome standing break for desk employees

A BPO workers group welcomed the order from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) providing for 5-minute breaks for desk employees. The workers organization BPO Secure and Healthy Ideas Enabling Labor Defense or BPO Shield however asked that instead of 5-minute breaks for every two hours as specified in the order, a 5-minute break for every hour would be more appropriate.

BPO Shield also called on the DOLE to consult workers on the drafting of the implementing rules of the order and for coordination on inspections of establishments. Last week the DOLE announced DO 184 that applies to desk-bound workers such as call center workers and also encourages exercises at the offices in the interest of occupational health and safety.

BPO Shield was formerly named the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW). ICCAW was formed in 2012 but changed its name to BPO Shield this year. BPO Shield is the accredited labor representative in the Region VII ICT industry tripartite council. Its website is https://bposhield.com.

Rossie Hong, a leader of BPO Shield, said that “DO 184 is a welcome response to clamor from BPO workers about health risks and for safe working conditions in offices. In call centers especially, agents sit for hours taking calls. However, BPO Shield would like to suggest that 5 minutes per hour would be more appropriate for call centers, since sitting for prolonged period could cause back pains and may lead to severe back problems, aside from hypertension, heart diseases, musculoskeletal disorders and other health problems.”

Hong also reminded the DOLE of their group’s longstanding call for assutrance bonds to be a requirement for the establishment and operation of BPO firms. She added that “BPO’s must put up a bond equivalent to two months worth of salaries of all their workers to defray money claims in cases of sudden closure or declaration of bankruptcy.”

She recalled that “In Cebu City, the BPO bond has been pushed by BPO Shield to the City Council for its approval and implementation. In 2012, Direct Access suddenly shut down leaving around 600 workers with no job and no pay. Several BPO companies did the same thing, like Cordia, Green Wire, Leadamorphosis, Blue Connect and Eziconnect, leaving more than a thousand workers, in the air, unpaid and unemployed. Although the workers have been vindicated in the NLRC decisions, sadly, the owners have already left the country or have opened another BPO but registered under a new name.”

BPO Shield

October 24, 2017

DOLE asked to probe removal of assets in closed call center

Call center workers in an ICCAW press conference

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is being called upon by the workers of Eziconnect Philippines to investigate the furtive removal of computers from their call center which had shutdown without due notice. They revealed that on December 24 several men took out six computers, a day after the DOLE made a site visit. Fifteen employees filed a complaint for illegal closure one day after Eziconnect suddenly shuttered on December 21.

Gerard Escubido, one of the 15 Eziconnect employees, exclaimed that “Instead of a Santa Claus bearing gifts on Christmas eve, here we have Ebenezer Scrooges stealing assets that can be used to defray out claims for unpaid wages and separation benefits. We have identified the perpetrators who removed the Eziconnect computers and we also have a suspect who masterminded it.”

“We call on Eziconnect owner Rodney Kafer to honor obligations to his workers who have loyally served the company for the past several years,” added Escubido. Kafer is a former Australian rugby player and Fox Sports commentator.

Dennis Derige, spokesperson of the Cebu chapter of Partido Manggagawa (PM) which is assisting the Eziconnect employees, stated that “We are asking DOLE-7 for prompt and appropriate action. It seems Eziconnect did not just shutdown illegally but is also a runaway shop.”

Aside from half a month of salaries and separation pay, the Eziconnect workers are demanding financial assistance and damages.

Derige insisted on speedy response from the government as the illegal shutdown of Eziconnect was the fifth case in Metro Cebu that they have encountered in the last four years. He cited the earlier cases of Direct Access, Cordia, Leadamorphosis and Blue Connect in which a total of about one thousand workers were adversely affected by sudden closures.

“Through the help of PM partylist, the workers of the four call centers got favorable settlements or awards from the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). Although in the case of Leadamorphosis workers, they have yet to receive a cent of the P36 million NLRC decision because the owners are in the USA,” Derige elaborated.

The partylist group reiterated its request that government require BPO’s to put up a bond to compensate workers’ money claims in case of sudden or illegal closure. “Call centers should set aside two months’ worth of salaries of all workers they intend to hire which will be used to defray unpaid salaries, benefits and separation pay,” Derige explained.

January 2, 2016

Workers decry removal of assets in closed call center

Press conference of call center workers organized by ICCAW

The workers of Eziconnect Philippines decried the furtive removal of computers from their call center which had shutdown without due notice. They revealed that on December 24 several men took out six computers, a day after the Department of Labor and Emploment (DOLE) made a site visit. Fifteen employees filed a complaint for illegal closure one day after Eziconnect suddenly shuttered on December 21.

Gerard Escubido, one of the 15 Eziconnect employees, exclaimed that “Instead of a Santa Claus bearing gifts on Christmas eve, here we have Ebenezer Scrooges stealing assets that can be used to defray out claims for unpaid wages and separation benefits. We have identified the perpetrators who removed the Eziconnect computers and we also have a suspect who masterminded it.”

“We call on Eziconnect owner Rodney Kafer to honor obligations to his workers who have loyally served the company for the past several years,” added Escubido. Kafer is a former Australian rugby player and Fox Sports commentator.

Dennis Derige, Partido Manggagawa-Cebu spokesperson who is assisting the Eziconnect employees, stated that “We will duly notify DOLE-7 of the incident and demand appropriate action once the government offices open after New Year’s day. It seems Eziconnect did not just shutdown illegally but is also a runaway shop.”

Aside from half a month of salaries and separation pay, the Eziconnect workers are demanding financial assistance and damages.

Derige insisted on prompt action from the government as the illegal shutdown of Eziconnect was the fifth case in Metro Cebu that they have encountered in the last four years. He cited the earlier cases of Direct Access, Cordia, Leadamorphosis and Blue Connect in which a total of about one thousand workers were adversely affected by sudden cloures.

“Through the help of PM partylist, the workers of the four call centers got favorable settlements or awards from the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). Although in the case of Leadamorphosis workers, they have yet to receive a cent of the P36 million NLRC decision because the owners are in the USA,” Derige elaborated.

The partylist group reiterated its request that government require BPO’s to put up a bond to compensate workers’ money claims in case of sudden or illegal closure. “Call centers should set aside two months worth of salaries of all workers they intend to hire which will be used to defray unpaid salaries, benefits and separation pay,” Derige explained.

December 30, 2015

PM asks candidates for their agenda on BPO workers

Leadamorphosis workers picketing their cal center in 2014

The labor partylist Partido Manggagawa (PM) today asked presidentiables to spell out an agenda for BPO workers in the context of the sudden closure of a call center in Metro Cebu. PM and the group Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) disclosed that it has come across five call centers with more than a thousand workers in total that illegally shutdown in the last four years, including the latest, Eziconnect Philippines.

“It is not all sunshine in the BPO industry. There is a dark side to the call center sector. The government must use its ‘Force’ to ensure protection for workers in the BPO industry,” insisted Wilson Fortaleza, PM spokesperson.

He added that “Is there a presidentiable brave enough to be a jedi to safeguard peace and justice for call center workers?”

PM is advocating strict government regulation of the BPO industry to weed out fly by night companies that are not financially equipped to run the business and does not respect labor rights. The partylist group is also calling for industry-wide standards for wages, benefits and entitlements that must be well above the minimum mandated by law and commensurate to the profitable dollar-earning nature of the call center industry.

ICCAW meanwhile aims to be a voice and advocate for call center and BPO workers so that the almost a million  employees in the industry who are entirely unorganized can enjoy protection.

Earlier, PM called for government to require BPO’s to put up a bond for workers claims in case of sudden or illegal closure. The partylist group is demanding that call centers set up a bond equivalent to two months wages of all employees they intend to hire to defray unpaid salaries, benefits and separation pay.

Gerard Escubido, one of the Eziconnect workers, revealed that the company shutdown last December 21 without due notice, leaving its 30 employees with unpaid wages, 13^th month pay and separation benefits. Its owner, Australian rugby player and Fox Sports commentator, Rodney Kafer, has not communicated with its workers about the company’s obligations.

Fortaleza disclosed that some 120 workers of another call center, Leadamorphosis, that illegally shutdown a week after New Year’s day of 2014 in Metro Cebu, won a Php 36 million award from the National Labor Relations Commission but has yet to receive a centavo as its owner is in the USA.

“Eziconnect must not become another Leadamorhosis. Thus we reiterate, who among the presidentiables has a platform to cater to the rights and welfare of BPO employees?,” Fortaleza exclaimed.

December 28, 2015

Partylist calls for BPO’s to put mandatory bond for workers claims as another call center illegally closes in Cebu:

Eziconnect wokers face off with their manager at DOLE-7 mediation meeting

The labor partylist group Partido Manggagawa (PM) called on the government to require BPO companies companies to put up a bond that will be used to pay workers claims as another call center illegally shuts down in Cebu. Eziconnect Philippines Inc. of Mandaue City closed abruptly last December 21 leaving its 30 employees jobless this christmas season with unpaid salaries and separation pay.

“Unfortunately Ebenezer Scrooge is alive and he is an Australian. The irresponsible owners of Eziconnect have stolen christmas from their hardworking workers,” declared Rene Magtubo, PM chair and one of its partylist bets. Eziconnect is owned by Australian Rodney Kafer, a former rugby player and present Fox Sports commentator.

According to the group Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW), which is assisting the Eziconnect workers together with PM, this latest illegal closure is the fifth in the last four years that it has encountered.

A day after the closure, Eziconnect workers filed a complaint at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Region 7 office. Yesterday a meeting was called by DOLE-7 where the workers faced off with their Filipino manager. The Eziconnect workers are demanding one month of unpaid salaries, 13^th month pay, separation benefits and financial assistance.

Gerard Escobido, one of the Eziconnect employees, said that “We had loyally worked for the company for the last several years and we feel betrayed that its owners, Kafer among others, would run away from its obligations to us.”

Magtubo called on the government to require BPO's to put up a bond equivalent to two months salaries of all workers they intend to hire which will be used to defray wages, benefits and separation pay in case of sudden or illegal closure.

ICCAW and PM had earlier helped workers of call centers Direct Access, Cordia, Leadamorphosis and Blue Connect, all based in Cebu, in their fight for unpaid money claims. In all cases, workers had won awards or settlement.

When Direct Access illegally shutdown in 2012, its workers fought to get their separation pay and were also granted employment in a new call center. ICCAW was formed as a result of the pioneering fight of Direct Access workers. Meanwhile in the case of Leadamorphosis, workers won a P36 million award two years ago.

“The BPO is sunshine industry according to the government but it must do more to ensure workers rights and welfare are protected. Since it is a profitable dollar earning industry, employers must provide its workers with above average wages and benefits,” argued Magtubo.

December 24, 2015

BPO workers group challenges candidates on issues

Press Release

August 14, 2015

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW)

A BPO workers group today challenged presidential candidates to commit to a platform of demands and issues of employees in the sector. The challenge came a day after news came out on an hour-long meeting that Mar Roxas had with some BPO workers in Cebu City.

“We hope that candidates Mar Roxas, Jojo Binay and Grace Poe, even if she had not yet announced formally, will seriously engage with BPO workers on their demands and not be content with shallow photo-ops. And the dialogue with BPO workers should lead to a firm commitment to concrete policy and executive actions, rather than end in vague promises that will be easily forgotten once the elections are over,” argued Rosie Hong, Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) president.

ICCAW is one of only a few workers associations in the BPO industry. It was founded in Cebu in late 2012 as a result of the fight of workers of Direct Access, a call center that unceremoniously shutdown and left its 600 employees without jobs and with unpaid wages and benefits. ICCAW has since expanded nationwide with organizing groups in Metro Manila, Iloilo City and Bacolod. With a full-pledged chapter in Cebu, ICCAW sits as the labor representative in the Cebu City tripartite body on the ICT industry.

“A case in point is candidate Mar’s ‘charm offensive’ with BPO workers in Cebu City’s IT Park. He was very concrete in promising a ‘caravan’ of government offices for faster processing of work-related requirements but in contrast he was obviously ambiguous and non-committal on the issue of workers security of tenure,” Hong elaborated.

“Security of tenure is not contradictory to the volatile nature of outsourced accounts. Contracts with overseas clients may come and go but the BPO company remains so it cannot deny security of tenure to its employees whose skills are portable and usable to different accounts,” Hong insisted.

Among ICCAW’s platform is the demand for industry-wide standards for wages, benefits and entitlements that must be well above the minimum mandated by law and commensurate to profitable dollar-earning nature of the BPO industry. ICCAW seeks to be an industry-wide organization for employees in the call center and business process outsourcing sector, and be a voice for industry workers’ concerns, grievances, demands and interests.

Hong ended with “Instead of a charm offensive and photo-ops, we prefer to engage with candidates on a policy debate and issue discussions. For example, we are interested to hear if any of them believe that contractualization is good for the BPO sector and we are more than willing to discourse with them on such issues.”

BPO’s asked to provide work-life balance for women workers

Press Release

March 23, 2015

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW)

With women’s month about to end, the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) called on the BPO industry to provide “women-friendly benefits in furtherance of work-life balance.” Rhejay Eusebio, ICCAW-NCR spokesperson, asserted that “BPO jobs are characterized by monotonous tasks, intense work and strict metrics. The competitive culture promoted in the BPO industry has led to work-life imbalance. This imbalance disproportionately impacts women employees who are breadwinners and with children.”

Specifically the group is asking BPO companies to provide child care facilities where employees can leave their children while at work. Also ICCAW is demanding that the industry take the lead in providing 120 days of pregnancy leave for women workers.

“My personal experience as a BPO worker for several years shows how family life is frequently sacrificed at the altar of work productivity,” Eusebio elaborated. She has a pending case at the National Labor Relations Commission for illegal dismissal. Eusebio is alleging she was fired without valid cause and due process after taking an emergency leave to take care of her sick daughter.

She insisted that “For sure, BPO companies will argue that these are costly benefits to provide. Yet BPO’s can very well afford these measures since it is a dollar-earning industry. BPO’s do not deserve to be called a sunshine industry if it cannot provide for above-average working conditions and labor standards.”

The BPO industry earns around USD 20 billion or almost PhP 1 trillion in revenues. Also it is estimated that there are more than a million BPO workers in the country. A survey in 2010 by the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics found that some 54% of BPO workers are women. “I believe that many of these women BPO workers are either breadwinners for their families or with children to take care of. Thus women-friendly benefits are an imperative for the BPO industry,” Eusebio emphasized.

ICCAW was founded in Cebu in late 2012 as a result of the fight of workers of Direct Access, a call center that unceremoniously shutdown leaving its 600 employees without jobs and with unpaid wages and benefits. It has since then expanded its membership nationwide even as it sits as the labor representative in the Cebu City tripartite body on the ICT industry.

ICCAW seeks to be an industry-wide organization for employees in the call center and business process outsourcing sector (BPO), and be a voice for industry workers’ concerns, grievances, demands and interests. Among ICCAW’s platform is the call for industry-wide standards for wages, benefits and entitlements that must be well above the minimum mandated by law and commensurate to the profitable dollar-earning nature of the call center industry.

ICCAW: 8 Steps to Protect BPO Workers' Rights

Protection of Workers’ Jobs and Rights, and Promotion of Just Labor Practices

in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Industry

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) business is one of the top industries in the country with the Philippines now positioned as the number one call center destination. However, just labor practices have not been widely practiced or observed, especially for small and medium scale enterprises and even the mid-size ones. The Philippines has no strict regulation when it comes to putting up a call center business, no government agency that acts for quick intervention and there are not enough programs designed to protect call center workers’ interests.

Thus we, the Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW), advocates for strict regulation to protect workers in the BPO industry. Specifically we call for an end to business tactics used by some employers meant to avoid liabilities to their workers such as illegally closing down and forming another company with the same operations and accounts.

We will cite some violations of labor standards and unjust labor practices happening in the BPO industry based on our first hand experiences. Unfortunately there may be other illegal practices still occurring which we just have not come across.

1.      Sudden closure of operations without prior notice

2.      Creating a new company with the same operations and accounts/campaigns after the closure of old business

3.      Avoiding liabilities and responsibilities to workers after the closure of the business

4.      Non-regular employees are not covered with hospitalization and insurance

5.      Employees are forced to go overtime

6.      Sudden cancellation of planned leaves

7.      Paying minimal allowances (P150 for example) during the training period

8.      Salary often delayed with no sound reasons

9.      Overtime is not paid

10.   Terminating employees without due process

Advocacy for Change

To protect workers’ interests there should be standardization of practices and strict regulation of employers who will be putting up business-related BPO operations. This will avoid fly-by-night operations which are ill prepared to run a business.

Priority Demands for Standardization in the BPO Industry

1.      A bond should be imposed to pre-qualify a call center operation and should be a requirement in putting up such a business. The bond will be used in case of sudden closure and should amount to one (1) month basic salary of the total number of employees hired. This is highly applicable for outbound operation BPO companies.

2.      Non-regular employees should be covered with basic hospitalization and insurance since they are prone to sicknesses as they work most the graveyard shift.

3.      Above minimum salary standards should be set given the dollar earning nature of the BPO industry. We demand a basic wage of P12,000, and a transportation and meal allowance of P2,500. This proposal is lower compared to those offered by the existing top call center companies in Cebu. This is exclusive of health benefits and insurance. Establishing minimum wage and allowances in the BPO industry will advance workers’ rights and interests.

4.      Regular labor inspection of BPO/call center sites in accordance with the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Labor Standards Enforcement Framework, and in coordination with ICCAW representatives. DOLE should train and deputize ICCAW representatives as labor inspectors to augment the meager number of government inspectors.

5.      Immediate activation of DOLE quick reaction team in response to sudden and illegal closures of BPO companies. This should be done in coordination with ICCAW representatives.

6.      Yearly tax break equivalent to two (2) months.  Exemption from income taxes of wages below P25,000, which is the cost of living in Cebu.

7.      Election of employee representatives within BPO companies with the mandate to negotiate with management on workplace grievances and complaints of workers.

8.      Regularize employees after maximum probationary period of six (6) months. Making employees contractual on basis of volatile accounts is a disguised form of employment. Moreover the Labor Code does not recognize account-based employees. Call center workers are also not project-based employees since such is time-bound depending on project duration. Regular call center workers with closed accounts can and should be redeployed to new accounts unless terminated with separation pay.