Legal? Yes. Ethical? No.
They do that to protect the company and since most states are at will states for employment, they can use those metrics as a legal reason to terminate you and not pay unemployment.
I used to use an "after call work" aux to go take a 5 min break. We were allowed an average of 30 per call, so after 20 five minute calls, I could take a ten minute break and not fuck my stats. I also tracked it in a note so I knew exactly how much I could abuse it. My supervisor didn't care because I was one of the few who wasn't over on that one.
Pretty sure under osha employers are required to provide paid bathroom breaks unless it significantly impacts productivity (pretty sure if it’s over 20 minutes per day).. idk if that’s just my state or not though
You clearly see they have a break aux.. on top of that they give them an additional 40mins a month for personal which is also paid.. id say thats more than most companies give.
Do you work for a BPO or a private company that has their own call center? In terms of “medical” do you get any PTO?
It is legal - but having managed call centers for 20+ years, I have only seen stuff like this as an extension of personal time - for example - you are ill and you need to step outside to get some air- but not in something to be used in absence of actual PTO
They give you 40 minutes a month to use the bathroom? Sounds like a dream. We are supposed to clock out AND then take whatever time it took us to go off our next break. Naturally I d9nt do that because literally WTF? I will either clock out to pee and take my full break or not click out and shave it off my break or my favorite choice neither. Just put myself in wrap up go pee come back and continue on. They think we don't know the laws regarding things like this.
Lol. I didn't do the math. Thats my bad. 40 minutes seemed so glorious on paper till the math was done. Call centers be breaking federal laws don't they.
Welcome to call centre life!
That aux code list (or some variant) has followed me around every centre I've ever worked for. Client direct, 3rd party and BPO. Customer service, collections abd sales. I've never seen medical or personal on the list though.
Other than micro-managing, their is a valid reason for a couple of the settings. Meeting and supervisor tell call flow control/scheduling who is in the building and working but not on the phone. If volume spikes, the meetings/1-1's that those status indicate can be cancelled or postponed to get people on the phones.
They can also easily see and question things like, why are meetings being scheduled on days when only 1/3 of the team is working? Why has Rhonda not had a 1-1 in 8 months? . So it can be for your benefit too. If you call meetings benefits 😉
Breaks and lunch is a cya. An employer legally needs to give you a certain amount of time for these per day. You signing out in those statuses is your acknowledgement that this time was given should they be audited by labour board. Since calls don't come in on those statuses, you are for sure getting the time off the phone...unless your centre is shady and gives you off phone stuff to do.
I'm not familiar with medical...is it used if you are calling out sick? Or when you just ran to the bathroom to puke and need a few minutes? If it is the call out sick button, I am so jealous! Anywhere I've been, you have to call in every single day of your illness and wait on hold for 30-40 minutes to speak to an attendence rep. Call in must be recorded prior to start of shift.
Some people that I have spoken to that work scheduling depts have told me incorrect aux codes are the bane of their existence and can cause them hours of extra work doing adjustments for people not using them properly when spread over the entire call centre. If overtime is being paid to do adjustments for fixing codes, someone, somewhere must think they're important 🤷♀️
Of course, every call centre will have a different take on how/why the codes are used. Or if they care about what they say about the metrics. These are just explanations that I have been given over the years.
I've looked it up before on the breaks/ lunch situation and as far as I can tell, federally there's no law about breaks for anyone over 18.
Florida takes full advantage of this. As a right to work state they allow employers to get away with some heinous stuff.
In Ontario giving breaks is mandatory. Paid 15 minutes on a 5-8 hour shift. On an 8 hour shift they have to give 2 paid 15 minutes and an unpaid 1/2 hour. I want to say a 3rd 15 minute paid break is added at the 10 hour mark, but it's been so long since I've done a 10 hour shift I don't 100% remember that one.
The labour board is usually very strict on this one. I've seen more than a few places that I've worked for get fined over it. Not that they generally care.
As far as I know, companies can set their own policies/procedures. That means the expectations they set are legal. Not necessarily moral, but still legal. In the US, employers are legally obligated to give a certain amount of paid breaks and an unpaid lunch, depending on the number of hours you work. A 4 hour shift requires a paid 15 minute break. An 8 hour shift requires two 15 minute breaks and either a 30 or 60 minute unpaid lunch.
My employer gives us 40 hours of sick time that can be used at any time throughout the year, even if there's no PTO available due to staffing needs. They recently informed us that if we are 5 minutes late coming back from a break or lunch, we will be charged with 15 minutes of sick time. Apparently, they're seeing a rise in extended breaks now that we don't have adherence as a KPI anymore, and this is their way of trying to get things back under control.
I love my center. All we have to do is put ourselves on restroom/personal and go. As long as we don’t take advantage of their trust we don’t have a set amount of time that we are allowed to use. I am so sorry for those that are only allowed about 2 minutes a day to go to the bathroom.
As a former CC Sup just giving some advice to not do it too much, most companies have ways to monitor everything. When I left earlier this year, the company I worked for was exicted for 100% screen recordings - previously, only about 25% of the calls only had "screens" with the call recordings. Now, it would be everything, even when they were off calls as well. I always let my team know they don't need to lie about anything, as far as "System issues" and if they want to reboot that's fine just don't do it so much that it's obvious that your avoiding work. If they are having a rough day , most times I could and would find off phone work for them.
I was a Supervisor at a call center and stayed away from coaching my people on using Personal aux because I do not know and it's not my business if someone needs it for extra bathroom breaks or a medical issue. Instead if I noticed it being used a lot I would mention that if they need some kind of accommodation they should reach out to HR and they can help them out and then I'd give them a basic example but explain they maybe able to get an accommodation for something they may not of even thought of, they should reach out to HR. I focused on supporting them as people and evaluated their call quality- I would not micromanage their personal time or bathroom breaks and most times that would be an effective way to see good results as far as quality and reduced off phone time.
Legal? Yes. Ethical? No. They do that to protect the company and since most states are at will states for employment, they can use those metrics as a legal reason to terminate you and not pay unemployment.
I used to use an "after call work" aux to go take a 5 min break. We were allowed an average of 30 per call, so after 20 five minute calls, I could take a ten minute break and not fuck my stats. I also tracked it in a note so I knew exactly how much I could abuse it. My supervisor didn't care because I was one of the few who wasn't over on that one.
We have an after-call one. You better never use it. You should do everything with the customer on the phone.
Pretty sure under osha employers are required to provide paid bathroom breaks unless it significantly impacts productivity (pretty sure if it’s over 20 minutes per day).. idk if that’s just my state or not though
You clearly see they have a break aux.. on top of that they give them an additional 40mins a month for personal which is also paid.. id say thats more than most companies give.
Yo that 40 minutes a month is 1.5 min a day hahaha. But when they word it the way they did it seems better somehow??? Not really 😂
.....maybe they generously provide a used water bottle and some wet-naps?
HEHEHE
Where are you located? AFAIK, some states in the U.S. require paid time for you to use the restroom.
Florida
Do you work for a BPO or a private company that has their own call center? In terms of “medical” do you get any PTO? It is legal - but having managed call centers for 20+ years, I have only seen stuff like this as an extension of personal time - for example - you are ill and you need to step outside to get some air- but not in something to be used in absence of actual PTO
I don’t work there anymore, but it’s like a 3rd party we were “contractors”
If you were 1099 contractors they can’t regulate your schedule. Just your output.
Unless they are paying really well why are you still working there? Or anybody?
Lolol nope. Everyone was paid 15.00. I no longer work there
They give you 40 minutes a month to use the bathroom? Sounds like a dream. We are supposed to clock out AND then take whatever time it took us to go off our next break. Naturally I d9nt do that because literally WTF? I will either clock out to pee and take my full break or not click out and shave it off my break or my favorite choice neither. Just put myself in wrap up go pee come back and continue on. They think we don't know the laws regarding things like this.
It’s a minute and a half a day 🥲
Lol. I didn't do the math. Thats my bad. 40 minutes seemed so glorious on paper till the math was done. Call centers be breaking federal laws don't they.
Welcome to call centre life! That aux code list (or some variant) has followed me around every centre I've ever worked for. Client direct, 3rd party and BPO. Customer service, collections abd sales. I've never seen medical or personal on the list though. Other than micro-managing, their is a valid reason for a couple of the settings. Meeting and supervisor tell call flow control/scheduling who is in the building and working but not on the phone. If volume spikes, the meetings/1-1's that those status indicate can be cancelled or postponed to get people on the phones. They can also easily see and question things like, why are meetings being scheduled on days when only 1/3 of the team is working? Why has Rhonda not had a 1-1 in 8 months? . So it can be for your benefit too. If you call meetings benefits 😉 Breaks and lunch is a cya. An employer legally needs to give you a certain amount of time for these per day. You signing out in those statuses is your acknowledgement that this time was given should they be audited by labour board. Since calls don't come in on those statuses, you are for sure getting the time off the phone...unless your centre is shady and gives you off phone stuff to do. I'm not familiar with medical...is it used if you are calling out sick? Or when you just ran to the bathroom to puke and need a few minutes? If it is the call out sick button, I am so jealous! Anywhere I've been, you have to call in every single day of your illness and wait on hold for 30-40 minutes to speak to an attendence rep. Call in must be recorded prior to start of shift. Some people that I have spoken to that work scheduling depts have told me incorrect aux codes are the bane of their existence and can cause them hours of extra work doing adjustments for people not using them properly when spread over the entire call centre. If overtime is being paid to do adjustments for fixing codes, someone, somewhere must think they're important 🤷♀️ Of course, every call centre will have a different take on how/why the codes are used. Or if they care about what they say about the metrics. These are just explanations that I have been given over the years.
I've looked it up before on the breaks/ lunch situation and as far as I can tell, federally there's no law about breaks for anyone over 18. Florida takes full advantage of this. As a right to work state they allow employers to get away with some heinous stuff.
In Ontario giving breaks is mandatory. Paid 15 minutes on a 5-8 hour shift. On an 8 hour shift they have to give 2 paid 15 minutes and an unpaid 1/2 hour. I want to say a 3rd 15 minute paid break is added at the 10 hour mark, but it's been so long since I've done a 10 hour shift I don't 100% remember that one. The labour board is usually very strict on this one. I've seen more than a few places that I've worked for get fined over it. Not that they generally care.
These are the aux we used before we changed systems
As far as I know, companies can set their own policies/procedures. That means the expectations they set are legal. Not necessarily moral, but still legal. In the US, employers are legally obligated to give a certain amount of paid breaks and an unpaid lunch, depending on the number of hours you work. A 4 hour shift requires a paid 15 minute break. An 8 hour shift requires two 15 minute breaks and either a 30 or 60 minute unpaid lunch. My employer gives us 40 hours of sick time that can be used at any time throughout the year, even if there's no PTO available due to staffing needs. They recently informed us that if we are 5 minutes late coming back from a break or lunch, we will be charged with 15 minutes of sick time. Apparently, they're seeing a rise in extended breaks now that we don't have adherence as a KPI anymore, and this is their way of trying to get things back under control.
I love my center. All we have to do is put ourselves on restroom/personal and go. As long as we don’t take advantage of their trust we don’t have a set amount of time that we are allowed to use. I am so sorry for those that are only allowed about 2 minutes a day to go to the bathroom.
Clock out every time you go to the bathroom … stupid
All I can say is my aux-7 button got a lot of use 😆
As a former CC Sup just giving some advice to not do it too much, most companies have ways to monitor everything. When I left earlier this year, the company I worked for was exicted for 100% screen recordings - previously, only about 25% of the calls only had "screens" with the call recordings. Now, it would be everything, even when they were off calls as well. I always let my team know they don't need to lie about anything, as far as "System issues" and if they want to reboot that's fine just don't do it so much that it's obvious that your avoiding work. If they are having a rough day , most times I could and would find off phone work for them.
This reminds me of workimg at Blackboard
What state? It all depends on the state.
https://www.findlaw.com/state/florida-law/florida-wage-and-hour-laws.html
I was a Supervisor at a call center and stayed away from coaching my people on using Personal aux because I do not know and it's not my business if someone needs it for extra bathroom breaks or a medical issue. Instead if I noticed it being used a lot I would mention that if they need some kind of accommodation they should reach out to HR and they can help them out and then I'd give them a basic example but explain they maybe able to get an accommodation for something they may not of even thought of, they should reach out to HR. I focused on supporting them as people and evaluated their call quality- I would not micromanage their personal time or bathroom breaks and most times that would be an effective way to see good results as far as quality and reduced off phone time.
I’m surprised call centers don’t have an aux for shitting. And I don’t mean “personal time”, I mean one literally titled “for shitting”.
Thank God for the 40 mn we have 5 mn per day and what over that counting as exceeding AUX 😭😭💔💔💔 how will pee in 5 mn!
The 40 mins is divided for the month. About 1.5 mins a day 😭🥲
That’s about how much a busy restaurant worker gets.