The global spread of COVID-19 has prompted unprecedented measures to contain the virus, including the temporary shutdown of business and widespread restrictions on movement. Around the world, travel plans and workplaces have been disrupted and work habits changed. Yet throughout the pandemic, it has been business as usual for some offshore call center agents in Tunisia and Morocco, who continued handling calls and queries on behalf of multinational companies to serve the needs of clients and customers abroad. This briefing summarizes some of the key human rights risks to workers in this sector, and considers the steps taken by ten call centers operating in and six clients outsourcing services to Tunisia and/or Morocco to protect workers amidst the crisis. We found that the pandemic has exacerbated systemic risks of economic hardship, psychological strain – due to long hours under constant surveillance, verbal abuse and stress – and introduced new risks linked to health hazards amid the virus. Similar concerns have been reported in other parts of the world, including South Korea, the US and Brazil, underscoring the endemic, transnational nature of these risks, which have long been a reality for many call center workers. The briefing also outlines recommendations for companies to address these

Disconnected: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Call Center Workers‘ rights in Tunisia and Morocco - Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, 2020 DOWNLOAD

post

page

attachment

revision

nav_menu_item

custom_css

customize_changeset

oembed_cache

user_request

wp_block

acf-field-group

acf-field

ai1ec_event

Unseen Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline Annual Assessment
Publications

This report provides an assessment of the UK-wide Modern Slavery Helpline’s operations in 2019 detailing the number, type and nature of calls, webforms and app submissions received between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019 and the number and dem...Read More

TAGS: Europe
Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark Key Findings from the Wind & Solar Sectors
COVID-19 resourcesGuidance

Climate change is among the most important and complex issues our planet and its people have faced in centuries, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only reinforced the urgency and necessity of building global economic systems that are both equi...Read More

TAGS: Global
Corporate Social Responsibility Review: Risks of Child Labor on Select Coffee Farms in Nicaragua
Publications

In Nicaragua, coffee is mainly produced on small-scale farms where temporary or seasonal work, weak remuneration, subcontracting, migrant workers, and child labor are likely to exist. In recent years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activitie...Read More

Hidden Chains: Rights Abuses and Forced Labour in Thailand’s Fishing Industry
Publications

The report by Human Rights Watch describes how migrant fishers from neighboring countries in Southeast Asia are often trafficked into fishing work, prevented from changing employers, not paid on time, and paid below the minimum wage. Migrant workers ...Read More