CALL CENTRE’S WEBCAM PLAN TO SNOOP ON STAFF AT HOME
Bosses’ bid to capture live footage of workforce raises ‘Big Brother’ fears
A MAJOR call centre is planning to spy on employees working from home by making them install webcams.
Cameras are being sent out to thousands of Scots workers at Teleperformance.
Bosses will be able to access live footage from their work stations. One worker said: “These are Big Brother tactics. It is frightening.”
A CALL centre giant plans to monitor its Scottish workers in their own homes using webcams.
Staff say the installation of cameras for remote workers is a “Big Brother” tactic and fear the technology could be open to abuse.
Webcams are being sent out this Thursday to thousands of Scottish staff who work for Teleperformance –the largest contact centre company in the world.
Teleperformance will be able to access live footage of an employee’s home work station – potentially a living room kitchen or bedroom.
In a statement, Teleperformance said workers “opt in” to switch on the cameras but an internal memo, seen by the Daily Record, states camera access is “mandatory” for random visual checks of workers.
It is also “mandatory” to allow “random” demands for access for “detection of a third person within an employee’s workspace”.
Most workers are sharing their homes, and a “third person” is likely to be a partner, flatmate or family members such as a children.
Last night, one worker said: “The company have said all of this is voluntary but mandatory means no option.
“I don’t want my boss looking into my home but I need my job so I can’t possibly say no. These are Big Brother tactics and frightening.
“It is effectively checking up, not only on us as staff but the people we are sharing our personal space with.
The whole thing is just creepy, especially for women and for parents with kids in their house.
“We have no idea what security there is to protect us if the people monitoring us abuse their power. We don’t even know if this technology can be hacked.”
Teleperformance is to close its Airdrie site later this year and it still has Glasgow offices but 80 per cent of its 8000 UK staff are now homebased.
Its clients include the NHS, The RAF, the Royal Navy and the Co-op.
The internal memo says it is “mandatory” for staff to allow camera access for spot checks to ensure they have a “clean desk”, with no equipment which could record personal data of clients.
But staff have said any worker with nefarious intentions would just clean their desk before the camera was switched on.
The memo states it is “mandatory” for staff to switch the webcam on when they log in and log off, in one to one meetings and training sessions. Craig Anderson from Call Centre Collective said staff were deeply concerned they will be asked to extend the periods of webcam access when the system beds in.
He said: “This is a complete invasion of privacy and in reality, there is nothing voluntary here. Call centre work is low paid, exploitative and precarious and workers are too scared to say no because they need their job to survive.”
Teleperformance say it is “redefining the new normal” of working from home with employers benefiting from “reduced physical space costs and increased productivity”.
The firm is now advertising positions for staff who are expected to buy all their own equipment for the job.
Teleperformance has been one of the most successful “pandemic profiteers,” with Covid bringing a massive shift of transactions to call centres.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon said: “The webcam move would leave all employees and in particular women, feeling vulnerable.
“This feels very sinister to me and it is creating a feeling of fear and intimidation for people who right now feel they have limited options.” East Dunbartonshire MP Amy Callaghan said: “Their staff, some of the most precariously employed, exploited workers in the sector, deserve far better than sneaky surveillance tactics.”
Phil Taylor, professor of Work and Employment Studies at the University of Strathclyde, said: “The worry is that the mandatory installation of webcam surveillance will become normalised across the industry.”
Too scared to say no as they need their jobs CRAIG ANDERSON FROM THE CALL CENTRE COLLECTIVE
Teleperformance said the webcams are to tackle loneliness and can’t be switched on remotely and have a shade facility to blur the background.