BPO industry looks inward in wake of fallout from flood and rain

After drawing  the ire of netizens for supposedly defying a Malacañang directive, the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) on Wednesday noted that a post-disaster assessment of their member-companies is in progress.

 

“We have complied and supported the Malacañang’s memo to cancel work during the onslaught of the monsoon last week,” BPAP president and chief executive officer Benedict Hernandez told GMA News Online in a phone interview.

 

Call center agents who made it to work were given premium pay, he said.

 

"We'll continue to work closely with the government to ensure employee safety, enhanced disaster preparedness, and mitigate service disruption," the BPAP official added.

 

At the height of last week’s enhanced monsoon rains and flooding over many parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, Malacañang issued a memorandum circular suspending work in private offices in the National Capital Region and its surrounding provinces. The order covered BPO offices.

 

Subsequently, BPAP revealed they are in talks with Malacañang to be exempted from the order.

 

The issue ignited the ire of netizens, especially after a screen grab from BPO company Teleperformance – saying they do not take orders from government – was posted online and instantly turned viral in social media sites.

 

Hernandez noted the company issued a public apology on the matter.

 

An apology posted on its official Facebook page read: “It is unfortunate that one individual sent a message to a select group of Teleperfomance employees that completely contradicts the message we’ve sent to our people.” 

 

Meanwhile, BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN), claiming to be a group of BPO workers, noted the “sad truth” about the industry has been revealed during the monsoon disaster.

 

“BPO employees are being unjustly treated by certain BPO companies… Despite the life-and-death risks, we were still asked to report for work in order to serve our clients abroad,” BIEN said in a statement online.

 

As of this posting, GMA News Online is still verifying the group’s identity.

 

BPAP’s Hernandez noted the group is not affiliated with BPAP, the umbrella organization for the IT-BPO industry. 

 

To address the concerns raised agained the BPO industry, the BPAP official said they have conducted an initial post-disaster assessment of member-companies late last week, essentially the same survey BPO companies staged three years ago in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ondoy.

 

Hernandez revealed that information technology-BPO companies gave employees overwhelmed by flooding financial assistance in the form of interest-free loans, advanced 13th-month pay, and outright grants.

 

IT-BPOs also enforced business continuity plans, several of which included safe, shuttle transportation to employees.

 

Hernandez said a follow-up survey of member-companies on post-disaster response is on the way, noting it takes two weeks to complete data-gathering alone. — VS, GMA News