Teleperformance twice lost lawsuits about whether or not login time should be paid for and then considered appealing in cassation. Not much later, Webhelp made the decision to stop paying during the short breaks. Who follows?

The continued payment of short breaks is not standard in our country. But scrapping 'acquired rights' by healthy companies with an image and labor market challenge turns out to be difficult to explain. Logical: on the one hand, steps forward have been taken with the new collective labor agreement; on the other hand, employees have to start earlier and stay longer if they want to keep the same salary. The advantage of a high turnover: by the time Webhelp's compensation scheme has been worked out, the employees concerned will have left.

EX = CX

Steps forward, steps back. When everything changes, it is difficult to calculate the net result for the brand representatives, members and customer experts always so valued by contact center managers. If the employment conditions become less good, you would expect that this will not have a positive effect on employee satisfaction. But managers who like to run after the slogan EX = CX can rest easy: there is for the validity of that statement no scientific proof.

With or without a headset

What has been scientifically proven: a break is good for your productivity. Frederick Winslow Taylor – he could very well have been the inventor of the contact center – laid the foundation for the proven relationship. The knowledge that a break is good for you and your employer has also trickled down to all those customer contact professionals without headset on their heads. Most contact center managers and CX directors therefore know that it is very wise to talk a little slack every day to colleagues in marketing. Or to score a latte macchiato in a quiet moment and then check in with those cool guys from IT.

It is precisely for this reason that we decided long ago to change the rules for breaks in the Working Hours Act to capture. But unfortunately, without detailed rules for payment. As a result, the other law, the law of small numbers (with many FTEs on board, every eurocent has an impact on the mood of shareholders), is not really 'inclusive' for headset wearers. Those who work at the contact center are part of an efficiency system that other departments could use to improve.

The current collective labor agreement expires at the end of this year and negotiations for 2024 have already started. I wonder if the union negotiators see through where the facilities could scrape even more once the ink of that new collective agreement has dried. Ziptone wishes everyone with and without a headset a happy holiday!

Eric Bouwer/Ziptone

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