Insecurity in the ‘contact centre’ sector
18.11.2016
Question for written answer E-008695-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Miguel Urbán Crespo (GUE/NGL) , Neoklis Sylikiotis (GUE/NGL) , Javier Couso Permuy (GUE/NGL) , Tania González Peñas (GUE/NGL) , Estefanía Torres Martínez (GUE/NGL)
In Spain, the ‘contact centre’ sector comprises companies that are being subcontracted on a large scale to manage communication between the general public and public authorities via information hotlines (010, 012 and 060 numbers), as well as providing, for example, helplines for victims of gender violence (016), bullying at school (018) and health-related emergencies (061 and 112). Again by means of subcontracting, the sector is also branching out to provide services for large private companies, including in the banking, energy, telecommunications and insurance industries.
In Spain, this sector engages in unfair practices when it comes to temporary employment contracts, breaching the principles of equality and non-discrimination in the area of severance pay for permanent and temporary workers. Furthermore, shifting business around among different subcontracts is becoming an established method of increasing the insecurity of working conditions. These two situations, which are covered by Articles 17 and 18 of the state-level collective agreement on ‘contact centres’, constitute breaches of Directives 1999/70/EC and 2001/23/EC respectively.
Taking into account rulings, such as that handed down by the Court of Justice of the European Union on 14 September 2016, which held that certain aspects of Spanish legislation are discriminatory and breach EC law:
- —Will the Commission be looking into those breaches?
- —Will it be taking steps to force Spain to comply with EU legislation?