A string of complaints, including salary alterations and unjust working conditions, have been unleashed by workers in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

The employees, who spoke with the Jamaica Observer on condition of anonymity, said the working conditions they have had to endure are leading to the deterioration of their mental health. They said they been thrown into a tailspin with the challenges they experience on the job and are demanding better treatment.

A 21-year-old, who has been working in the sector for two years and seven months, told the Observer that she has to create affirmation cards to boost her self-esteem when she goes to work daily.

“I feel like my mental health has deteriorated a lot since working here. I have to make a mental note to put on a work persona and constantly remind myself throughout the day that I have to keep up the façade,” she said.

Noting that the BPO industry only pays for productive time, she shared an experience in which she was paid less than her monthly salary.

“I was late, and it was the fault of the transportation provided by my company,” she said.

“I do think more should be done to improve the BPO sector, they should start treating BPO workers like human beings and not robots or business transactions,” she added.

Meanwhile, a 30-year-old at another company, who has moved up from an agent to an analyst in three years, described the treatment at his company as inhumane and said the slightest mishap will result in the loss of monthly incentives.

“You become drained and overwhelmed, especially when you do the work and still fail in meeting the requirements, or if there are errors in your reports. Our base pay is already not enough and then we are graded individually per month on our performance by our supervisor who then determines what our incentive will be like,” he said.

He agreed that more can be done to improve the treatment of workers in the BPO sector as, according to him, it is “modern slavery”.

“We have all the reasons to back that. It is so easy to replace you in this sector, plus all that is held against you and all that affects your pay. We need to be more appreciated. I’ve learnt that Jamaica has the best customer experience representatives, but we are second to [the] least paid worldwide. I feel the leaders wouldn’t mind if we were robots,” he said.

A similar view was shared by a 22-year-old woman who has been working at another company for one year and 11 months.

“Well, the only the thing is that dem treat you like yuh deh a school too much. Yuh haffi do everything on time and if yuh one minute late from break or lunch or late for work it a come outta yuh pay,” she explained.

Some call centre workers have even taken to social media platforms such as Instagram to air their concerns.

“I had a complete 10-hour shift with no break and no lunch ’cause they say, ‘All hands on deck’,” one worker posted.

“You earn one sick day every 22 days. But when you actually get sick they don’t pay you for it,” said another worker.

Added another worker, “It’s like they come with a new pay structure every week to take away your money.”

When asked why they haven’t sought different employment opportunities, some call centre workers explained that other jobs barely pay more than $60,000, which they receive monthly as agents. Others indicated that the industry offers good salaries at the managerial or operational levels.

However, attorney-at-law Khadrea Folkes blasted call centre employers for the treatment described by the employees. She said that they ought to be more cognisant of factors that can affect the mental health of the workers and that this state of affairs can lead to diminishing returns.

“Employers just need to understand that they are working with humans and not machines, and just as how machines can break down, humans can get ill as well. It makes no sense you have a worker who is burnt out or ill and accommodate them,” she said.

Regarding the claims that call centre workers’ salaries are being tampered with, Folkes said, “That can’t happen, you cannot go into people’s pay like that. You cannot legislate humanity, also you should not have to legislate humanity. The fact of the matter is that you are dealing with people and things will happen. If you are insistent of getting your time, let them work a minute extra as opposed to penalising them, because things can happen. That is sounding like a modern-day sweatshop and we can’t have that in the country.”

Pertaining to the concerns about unpaid sick days, Folkes said, according to Jamaican labour laws, workers are entitled to take 10 days’ sick leave annually, and if that has been exhausted the employer is not obligated to pay the worker.

However, she suggested that the employer could offer the option for a worker to take time off from other job entitlements such as vacation leave.

“So they are not breaking any law by saying that they are not going to be paid [after the 10 sick days are used], but they should at least present the option, because not everybody can afford to not be at work one day and not get paid. A more reasonable approach would be to allow the worker to take off that time from work against other entitlements; for instance, vacation leave. Suppose is a one or two days they need? They can opt for two days’ vacation leave if they want to still be paid,” she suggested.

Folkes stressed that the workers’ concerns highlight the need for the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act which, she said, would allow employees to experience decent work conditions without putting their well-being at risk.

In May 2019 Prime Minister Andrew Holness had said that the OSH Bill, which was before a joint select committee at the time, was expected to be passed in Parliament by December 2019. But up until the dissolution of Parliament in August 2020, former state minister in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Zavia Mayne said the committee was unable to fully review the Bill.

Meanwhile, chairman and chief executive officer at itelBPO Solutions Yoni Epstein made it clear that all workers are provided with a contract which states the duties of the job.

Asked about the allegations made by call centre workers, he said, “I can’t speak on behalf of the industry, I can speak on behalf of my organisation. All of our employees have employment letters that clearly state the guidelines of their employment. If somebody is late for work, and you clock in late, you’re only paid for the hours that you are actually at work. And, if you leave work early, you don’t get paid for the hours that you are not at work.

“You hear all kinds of concerns in call centres, but it is an industry that is very highly competitive and it is also very highly quantifiable,” Epstein added.

Epstein, however, agreed with Folkes that employees should be allowed to work overtime after completing shifts if they are late, based on the volume of work needed.