Delving into the Specifics of Globe’s Anti-BPO Policy

 *This post also appears in blogwatch.tv

Last Friday, I wrote about the apparent discriminatory policy of Globe telecom against call center agents and since then, I received messages from people I didn’t expect to contact me. After posting last week’s article, Globe Telecom denied that they have an anti-BPO employee policy and they don’t require for credit card for such applications. Globe Telecom, through its representative, also contacted me and the representative said that he will get back to me the soonest he hears from their internal team.
Five days and a thousand hits later, I still have yet to hear from them and I am totally confused because the representative and the Globe stores tell contradictory statements. So, I did some clarifications by calling their postpaid hotline and tried to inquire about the requirements.
This time, the Sales Specialist I talked with was very specific with the requirements. For BPO applicants, aside from the 3 major requirements, a credit card will be required for BPO employees working less than 2 years in the current BPO company. Also, the credit card requirement is not mandatory for BPO employees with managerial positions. I was also told that the minimum gross monthly income required to apply for a postpaid line is Php 10,000 (No problem with that as BPO employees, generally, earn more than that). Again, I also asked for explanation about this “mandatory policy” but I was denied of hearing one.
These specifics now raise few questions and let me enumerate them. (For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume we have Employee A who has worked for BPO Company X for more than 2 years and Employee B who has worked for the same company for less than 2 years). Why is Employee A not required to present a credit card? Apart from the duration of tenure, what is the difference between Employee A and Employee B and how can Globe Telecom arrive at the conclusion that the former will pay more faithfully than the latter? Also, how can Globe Telecom know that Employee C- let’s assume this employee has a managerial position- can pay more faithfully than Employee A?  With all of these, it is getting more apparent to me that there is a deliberate intention to make the application more difficult for BPO agents. Furthermore, what is more apparent- and this is my paranoid mind talking- is the assumption that call center agents can not and would not pay for their bills should their application be accepted.
A reply from Twitter said that Globe Telecom has the right to choose which person they will enter a contract with. I totally understand such  but then again, they could have phrased this policy in  a non-discriminatory manner. Whether the reason behind this policy is the high attrition rate or the relatively volatile nature of the industry, the sad thing is that they could get away with their discriminatory remarks. Such generalization hurts me because no proper disclosure was made and this policy remains to be told orally and not in writing. It appears that they have the intention to lure BPO agents into applying then drop their discriminatory policy right into our face.
I know that such policy may not be illegal and Globe Telecom has no legal liability in this particular case but they should be more sensitive enough to their consumer’s feelings. Yes, business is business and safeguarding revenue is their primary goal but that doesn’t excuse them to look down upon BPO agents who apparently are working as hard as the rest of the work force. With the BPO Industry’s relatively significant contribution to our economy, Globe Telecom should really study this specific policy. Better yet, they should refrain from making discriminatory and insulting policies at all times.