Colombia: Call centre giant Teleperformance mulls installing CCTV at WFH employees' homes

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Call Centre sector has been expanding largely. Due to the fear of contamination of the virus, large number of workers have moved online. In such a scenario, US-based businesses are increasingly dependent on outsourced workers. Recently, call centre workers in Colombia who offer outsourced customer support to some of the country's top firms are being forced to sign a contract allowing their employers to set CCTV in their homes to monitor their work productivity. 

The Teleperformance workers alleged that one of several world's top call centre firms with customers such as Apple, Amazon, and Uber, expressed worry about the new contract, which was originally given in March.  

The contract is asking for the installation of AI-powered cameras in workers' homes, as well as speech analytics and the preservation of data collected from family members, as well as from minors. Teleperformance has about 380,000 employees worldwide, including 39,000 in Colombia. As more people are starting to work from home, some firms are pushing for increased levels of digital surveillance of their employees in an attempt to replicate the oversight of the office at home. 

According to a Bogota-based Apple employee, contract permits continual monitoring of her work as well as the activities of her family. The employee further stated that she signed the contract to avoid losing her job. She also said her boss informed her that if she refused to sign, she would be removed from the Apple account. The additional surveillance technology, she added, is yet to be deployed. 

Previously, a similar incident happened in Albania. Workers at Teleperformance in Albania, as well as those employed on the Apple U.K. account, filed a complaint with the country's Information and Data Protection Commissioner in late 2020, objecting to the company's plan to install CCTV surveillance in their homes. Later, the commissioner said that Teleperformance could not use CCTVs to monitor Albanian workers in their homes.

It all started when Teleperformance's worldwide workforce, including 95 per cent of its 39,000 remote Colombian employees, received an eight-page addition to their current employment contracts in March. According to workers, the company gave the excuse that the clients had requested the increased monitoring in order to boost security and prevent data breaches while they worked from home.    

What does the contract say

As per the current contract, Employees must consent to have video cameras installed in their homes or on their laptops, pointed at their workstation, to record and watch them in real-time. There should be also consent given to Teleperformance utilising AI-powered video analysis technologies to detect objects around the workplace, such as mobile phones, paper, and other items banned by Teleperformance's security standards. They must also agree to provide data and photographs linked to any children under the age of 18 who may be detected by video and audio surveillance techniques, as well as biometric data such as fingerprints and photos. Even There's also a rule that says workers must undergo polygraph exams if they're asked to.  

On the other hand, Mark Pfeiffer, a spokesperson for Teleperformance Colombia, said that this is done to monitor clean desk policy and fraud. He further said that they are looking for ways to improve the Teleperformance Colombia experience for both workers and customers. He even added that privacy and respect are their major concerns. He even stated that their companies are dedicated to fair practices, equality, inclusion, diversity, non-discrimination, labour sustainability, ethics, and transparency. They will continue to do everything to preserve these principles for both teams and all important stakeholders, he added.

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