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

wp_template

wp_template_part

wp_global_styles

wp_navigation

wp_font_family

wp_font_face

acf-taxonomy

acf-post-type

acf-field-group

acf-field

ai1ec_event

exactmetrics_note

Top 5 Labour abuses in 2019-2020- A field-based analysis of worker reporting and business responses In Thailand
COVID-19 resourcesGuidancePublications

Issara Institute recognizes worker voice as conveying the voices, experiences, and needs of workers, and channeling that voice into clear mechanisms committed to remediation and a rebalancing of power asymmetries between employers and workers. This ...Read More

TAGS: Asia
Data Mining and Integration to Combat Child Trafficking
Publications

Authors: Hao Wang, Andrew Philpot, Eduard H. Hovy Women and children are trafficked between countries and within countries for illicit sexual purposes. This is a serious international crime. Domestic traffickers use a variety of means to adve...Read More

Special Issue – Anti-Trafficking Education
GuidancePublications

The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in the sites for anti-trafficking education and the range of educators who shape how the public and institutions understand and respond to human trafficking. The aim of this Special Issue of Anti-Traff...Read More

No Worker Left Behind: Protecting Vulnerable Workers from Exploitation During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 resourcesPublications

This briefing builds on the understanding that labour exploitation is part of a spectrum ranging from labour compliance through to labour law violations, culminating at extreme exploitation in the form of forced labour. Research by FLEX and others s...Read More