A call center used by British companies accused of intrusive monitoring of domestic workers | control

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A multinational call center used by dozens of leading British companies has come under fire for what unions have called intrusive monitoring of staff working at home and their families, as well as requiring workers to hand over biometric and medical data.

Unions say Teleperformance, which is also answering calls for a series of UK government departments, is “pushing workers’ limits” on long-term home work amid the coronavirus, and accuses the company of unfairly targeting many of the employees who objected.

While the allegations do not directly affect the company’s 10,000 employees in the UK, some criticisms focus on countries where English-speaking employees answer UK customer calls, such as Greece and Albania.

The France-based company, which employs about 380,000 people in 34 countries, says it fully complies with all local and international laws, and that feedback from employees shows very positive responses.

But an employee who dealt with British agents from a call center in Albania said that after she objected to video surveillance while working at her parents’ home, she was fired, despite being recently promoted.

In Britain, the company’s clients include the UK government’s health and education departments, NHS Digital, the student loan company, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. Companies it works for include Vodafone, eBay, Aviva, Volkswagen and the Guardian.

The discoveries come after some UK domestic workers were told Teleperformance in March of this year to expect remote monitoring by video cameras, which would check if they were eating, looking at their phones or leaving their offices.

After UK staff contacted the Guardian, they were told this would not happen. Teleperformance insists that the introduction of video cameras in the UK was never for remote monitoring, only for training and peer chats.

However, concerns have been raised about the company’s practices in other countries. Barbara Mikage, a 29-year-old philosophy graduate who handled calls from UK clients for a multinational company, said she decided to cover up a hand-mounted webcam to monitor her work from her family home.

Within days, says Massage, she was told her job performance had been “re-evaluated” and she was fired. “Before that, everything was going well. I was doing really well, I got promoted,” she said.

Some of the stricter work-at-home terms appear to involve Teleperformance employees in Colombia, who primarily deal with clients in the United States. In addition to what is described as “real-time” video surveillance, workers could be asked to provide biometric details and even the results of medical examinations.

The contract, seen by the Guardian, states that employees must agree that photos and videos of themselves, their families and children can be distributed within the company, and that they accept polygraph tests.

One Colombian employee, who spoke anonymously, said the assumption was that there was no choice but to agree: “Every day you feel like you don’t have privacy. It’s our faces, our lives. It’s our space in our homes and families. We don’t want this, but we have to do it.” , to get to work.”

Staff of Teleperformance in Greece, another multilingual website that handles calls from the UK, were told that at home they should have a “separate work area free from distraction, clutter and all background noise.”

According to a local contract seen by The Guardian, employees earning above the local minimum wage, currently €9,100 (£7,700), are expected to provide separate work space and cover any other costs, such as internet and electricity.

A Teleperformance spokesperson said all Greek employees had received an “estimated amount” for these expenses. However, local employees say that is not the case, that the additional pay is generally for language skills, and that employees are paid the same whether they work at home or in an office.

Such home monitoring “forces workers to choose between spying on them and being hired,” said Kristi Hoffman, UNI’s general secretary.

A Teleperformance spokesperson said the company used webcams “primarily for collaboration purposes” such as meetings and training.

They said: “Everywhere we operate, Teleperformance complies with all local, national, and international laws, regulations, and standards that apply to our business, including those related to security, privacy and compliance, as well as, if greater, specific customer requirements.

“Before we used webcams, we followed GDPR guidelines on assessing data protection risks. The Covid-19 crisis has not changed Teleperformance’s commitment to the principles and regulations that underpin our employees’ privacy protection.”

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