It is within the realm of the possibilities. Here now… gone yesterday just did not get the memo yet, like the one on station 17 last week, and those four guys the other week. Malou Ang has just entered…The Twilight Zone.

@tongue twisted
I agree with you that our government turns a blind eye with regards to out labor code..

Even if the weather is really bad (Signal 2 or 3) agents are still required to go to work. Oh yeah, I had an incident last year (when I was still working) that I contracted the “Pink Eye” (A.K.A SORE EYES). My team leader at that time would not sign my permission to go home because her stats would be at stake. I was appalled at that time, I did not want to infect other agents so I went to our Operations Manager to have it signed. Another incident was when I just came out from the hospital. I followed the proper protocols (calling HR, my OM and TL etc! Haizt!), guess what my TL told me, “You might be acting you need to show up for work.”

I did show up for work as she requested with bandages still intact on my skin. I took in calls and she was still mad because my stats are really low. Then when I passed my LOA, she did not process it. She made sure that I get terminated by not submitting it.. LOL..

This is how some telemarketing companies work..

As much as I wanted to take action for this, I am afraid that justice won’t be served. I am just praying that this incident would not happen to her.

No response so I will answer it.

Of course it would. In fact ALL Call Centers have been blatantly violating the Labor Code no one in government is doing sincere work to protect the agents. The biggest mortal sin?

“The Labor Code of R.P.
TITLE III
WORKING CONDITIONS FOR SPECIAL GROUPS OF EMPLOYEES
Chapter I
EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN
ART. 130. Nightwork prohibition. – No woman, regardless of age, shall be employed or permitted or suffered to work, with or without compensation:
(a) In any industrial undertaking or branch thereof between ten o’clock at night and six o’clock in the morning of the following day; or
(b) In any commercial or non-industrial undertaking or branch thereof, other than agricultural, between midnight and six o’clock in the morning of the following day; or
(c) In any agricultural undertaking at nighttime unless she is given a period of rest of not less than nine (9) consecutive hours.”

It is safe to assume all call centers are guilty under this provision. I have googled and scanned chanrobles.com’s website with a fine-toothed comb, there are no existing laws that have repealed the provisions I mentioned. But it is not all. I was asked to comment in the website (which they call their “online labor union”) of one of the biggest call centers in the Metro. There were several exploitative policies being implemented which were contrary to law. Sadly our labor officials choose to turn a blind eye since the consequences of doing otherwise are unimaginable. But that excuse is all to flimsy and all too frequent, this government’s much-vaunted adherence to rule of law is definitely inexistent.

If anyone cares to read the rest of the violations and the abuse, and I’m sure this is not an isolated case, you can read them here.

peste: easier said than done, i say. :(

Unfortunately, that’s what everyone says.

I would even argue that it’s making the problem worse, and it might have started the problem in the first place, since Pinoys have been migrating to the land of milk and honey loooooooooooooooooooong before our economic woes started (remember the days when there was an anecdote where “UP grads where going straight from graduation ceremony to the airport”? That was the late 50s – early 60s).

Manufacturing based industrialization….Is there any other kind? – J_ag

I agree with you but there are alternative schools of thought which base development on services (e.g. financial services, IT or Outsourcing) on the theory that we can leapfrog over the factory stage. Ask Jon Limjap.

There is no national economy. An agent economy almost totally depends on foreign principals. – J_ag

It’s not an either/or debate (national vs. agent-based). Once we get past the broad categories, the number of possible industrial activities a country can choose from is in the tens of thousands. We just need to discover what we are good at (to sell to the world) and we can import the rest.