It is time to protect the rights and welfare of workers in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country.
Senator Lito Lapid filed Senate Bill No. 2235 or BPO Workers’ Welfare and Protection Act of 2023, which seeks to address the working conditions of BPO workers, estimated at 1.3 million Filipinos employed in 1,000 BPO companies in 2019.
“However, since its establishment in the country, the laws governing the BPO industry have not adequately adapted to meet its increasing demands, leading to various challenges. As a result, BPO employees find themselves at the mercy of a results-oriented industry,” Lapid said.
“This situation exposes them to high levels of stress due to heavy workloads and stringent performance standards. They also face insufficient breaks and sudden changes in shift schedules. In an intensely competitive work environment, the health and safety of BPO employees have been compromised due to unrealistic expectations,” he added.
Lapid noted that the BPO industry in the country has expanded and recorded great growth in the past two decades. The Philippines, he said appears to be the global leader in the BPO sector because Filipinos are known to be good at work, friendly, and have lower wages compared to developed countries abroad.
Filipinos have been recognized around the world for their high English proficiency level, so they are preferred by BPO companies for their voice-based services, such as customer support and telemarketing.
“Even though there was an outbreak of COVID-19 around the world, the BPO industry has been a great help in providing jobs and promoting the country’s economy,” he said.
Despite this, Lapid said that the rights of BPO workers are still not given protection, especially as demands continue to increase and they are stuck in the results-oriented industry.
“We need to ensure that there are proper standards for workers in the BPO sector, including humane treatment as well as ensuring that there are adequate benefits, privileges, and comfortable working conditions in companies,” he said.
Under the bill, BPO companies shall be mandated to uphold the rights and benefits of their workers under the Labor Code.
“Abusive language, physical violence or any act which debases the dignity of a person shall not be used against the employee,” the bill stated.
The measure will prohibit understaffing or overloading by ensuring that the “ratio of BPO worker to client quota or quantitative targets shall be such as to reasonably effect a sustained quality of service at all times without overworking the workers.”
The bill also mandates the regularization of BPO workers and upholds their rights to “self-organization and participate in democratic exercises,” among others.
