BPO workers group propose options to RTO

With two days to go before the April 8 deadline by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for BPO companies to apply for exemption from the Return-To-Office (RTO) order, an industry workers group proposed several alternatives to full on-site work.

The Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) called on the Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello to convene a social dialogue so that the options they are presenting can be discussed.

“BPO workers are appealing to the government that our voices be heard and that we be given a seat at the table since this concerns the safety and well-being of employees. BPO workers are the ones who will get sick in case of infections, will endure hours in traffic even as public transportation remains broken, and will have their lives disrupted as they relocate back to cities and business districts from the provinces,” according to Bryan Nadua, ICCAW spokesperson and works in a BPO in Metro Manila.

ICCAW also expressed its support for the groups BPO Employees for Leni and Kiko and the Coalition of IT-BPO for Leni-Kiko which are having a press conference tomorrow to air their grievances over the implementation of the RTO.

The RTO order took effect last Friday, April 1, as the Department of Finance and the Fiscal Incentives Review Board insisted that BPOs as economic zones must be “exclusively conducted or operated within the geographical boundaries of the zone or freeport.”

In a press conference attended by several BPO workers last March 27, ICCAW called the RTO an “April Fools’ prank on BPO workers.”

ICCAW is proposing the following alternatives to the RTO or full on-site work:

1. Hybrid setup where workers are 3 days on-site (workplace) and 2 days off-site (home)
2. 50/50 ratio: 50% of the workforce are on-site and 50% are working from home
3. Compressed work week: 4 days on-site on 11 hours shift (which includes 1-hour lunch and three 15-minute breaks)
4. Conversion of existing benefits like internet or electric allowance to transportation allowance once workers go on-site
5. 70/30 ratio as proposed by PEZA but the 70% of the workforce should be on hybrid set-up (3 days on-site at 2 days off-site)

Nadua emphasized that “Dialogue is key and workers participation is imperative. At the national level, BPO workers seek a meeting with Secretary Bello. At the sectoral level, the IT-BPO industry tripartite council must table options presented by workers. And at the firm level, management must hear the concerns of employees and their representatives.”

Inter-Call Center Association of Workers (ICCAW) is a DOLE-registered workers’ association that was formed in 2012 out of the struggle of 667 employees of a call center in Cebu City which unceremoniously closed down.

ICCAW has core groups in Metro Manila, Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo. ICCAW FB page: https://www.facebook.com/Inter-Call-Center-Association-of-Workers-ICCAW-649423938410656