Call centre 'Big Brother' warning

Unison said workers' e-mails and phone calls were monitored

Call centre workers in Scotland face "Big Brother" type monitoring of telephone calls and e-mails, according to service sector union Unison.

Unison said its survey of workers suggested 67% that had had their calls monitored by employers, 82% had e-mails studied and 62% their PCs monitored.

One worker claimed her manager printed an e-mail she received which discussed a family crisis.

The industry said it was no different to any other workplace.

Unison's Scottish organiser for utilities Dave Watson has urged a rethink.

He said: "We have been concerned for a number of years that surveillance of staff in Scotland's contact centres was becoming more invasive.

'Damaged morale'

"However, even we had not anticipated the intolerably high levels of unwarranted monitoring of staff that this survey revealed.

"Perhaps most worryingly, there is little evidence from this survey that employers are adopting the principles set out in the Employment Practices Data Protection Code (EPDPC), or that they understand the damage this level of staff concern has on morale and performance."

The study suggested some workers who found out about the surveillance felt depressed, stressed or wanted to find another job.

More than 70% suffered from anxiety, 17% of respondents suffered from depression and 52% of call centre staff stated that they had considered resigning.

The rationale is to improve training and to make sure that all the customers' and members of the public's calls are being properly dealt with Colin Mackay Call Centre Association

The survey follows an Incomes Data Services (IDS) report in 2003 which showed more than 60% of Scotland's call centres had problems retaining staff, compared to 25% across the UK.

Call Centre Association spokesman Colin Mackay said telephone calls were often monitored for training purposes.

He said: "The rationale about listening to call in call centres is not around trying to catch people out in terms of private calls that are being made.

"The rationale is to improve training and to make sure that all the customers' and members of the public's calls are being properly dealt with."

He said it was best practice for firms to have policies governing when staff could use e-mail and the internet.

However, he said the issues raised were much wider than just the call centre sector as many other organisations had policies on the use of e-mail and private calls.