Call centre toilet fines stink says Govt

The Government has been forced to intervene in a row over call centre workers’ rights after one operative from Bridgend had his wages docked £50 for going to the toilet.
Raising the issue in the House of Commons this week, Bridgend MP Madeleine Moon called on Employment Relations Minister Jo Swinson to straighten out the mess.
Moon told MPs the man had been sent a text message telling him deductions had been made from his salary. She added: “He was not told what the deductions were for. When he enquired he was told it was toilet breaks. The company tells me they make ad hoc deductions for breaks away from the work station.”
In response, Swinson confirmed that workers have a legal right to rest breaks. “If deductions are made from pay they have to be very clearly outlined, and indeed if they take somebody below the national minimum wage, then the employer could find themselves in breach of that law.”
She advised people who had deductions made to seek advice from the Pay & Work Rights Helpline on 0800 9172368.
The company at the centre of the dispute, Solution Marketing, denied any wrongdoing. In a statement it said: “It is not a Solution Marketing company policy or practice to make payroll deductions for toilet breaks. Ad hoc deductions can occur where call operatives are missing from their desks for excessive periods of time.”
The row is likely to be greeted with despair by the contact centre industry, which has worked hard to try to shake off its poor image to attract staff. The sector, which employs more than 1 million people in the UK, has strived to improve conditions, ever since reports first emerged a decade ago of widespread abuse of employees.
The TUC was even forced to set up a hotline as part of a campaign to improve conditions following complaints of bullying, impossible sales targets, risible breaks between calls, and hostility to unions.
One complaint detailed how a manager had brought in disposable nappies and threatened to force the worker who made the most visits to the toilet to wear one.
At the time, a TUC spokesman said: “One of the most common themes has been needing permission to go to the toilet, having to put up your hand to do so, and being monitored on toilet breaks. People who are spending more time in the toilet than others are being marked out.”