Call centres could contravene basic human rights

Call centres and other UK companies are being warned that staff are entitled to private phone calls at work. The Government says that monitoring staff calls contravenes the European Convention of Human Rights.

Oftel, the UK Office for Telecommunications, has recently issued new guidelines on how employers can ensure they are not breaking legal regulations. One of the main reasons for the increase in controversy is due to the taped phone calls inherent in the rapidly growing call centre industry.

It is quite normal for companies in this line of work to tape phone calls, reasons for this include training and supervision, ensuring customer satisfaction and as a record in the event of disputes.

However, a spokesperson from Oftel explained: "Companies and organisations that routinely record telephone calls must ensure that their employees are able to make personal calls that are not also recorded under the same system."

Routes around this issue include the supply of public payphones which can be used by staff as Oftel commented: "It is not reasonable to assume that people at work will never receive calls touching on personal and domestic matters".