CSR – call center agents
ICT MARKETING SERVICES
v. SALES,
G.R. No. 202090, September 9, 2015
Respondent’s work as a CSR – which is essentially that of a call center agent – is not easy. For one, she was
made to work the graveyard shift – that is, from late at night or midnight until dawn or early morning. This
certainly takes a toll on anyone’s physical health. Indeed, call center agents are subjected to conditions that
adversely affect their physical, mental and emotional health; exposed to extreme stress and pressure at work
by having to address the customers’ needs and insure their satisfaction, while simultaneously being conscious
of the need to insure efficiency at work by improving productivity and a high level of service; subjected to
excessive control and strict surveillance by management; exposed to verbal abuse from customers; suffer
social alienation precisely because they work the graveyard shift – while family and friends are at rest, they
are working, and when they are at rest, family and friends are up and about; and they work at a quick-paced
environment and under difficult circumstances owing to progressive demands and ambitious quotas/targets
set by management. To top it all, they are not exactly well-paid for the work they have to do and the
conditions they have to endure. Respondent’s written query about the prizes and incentives is not exactly
baseless and frivolous; the least petitioner could have done was to timely address it, if it cared about its
employee’s welfare. By failing to address respondent’s concerns, petitioner exhibited an indifference and lack
of concern for its employees – qualities that are diametrically antithetical to the spirit of the labor laws, which
aim to protect the welfare of the workingman and foster harmonious relations between capital and labor. By
its actions, petitioner betrayed the manner it treats its employees.
ICT MARKETING SERVICES
v. SALES,
G.R. No. 202090, September 9, 2015
G.R. No. 202090
ICT MARKETING SERVICES, INC. (now known as SYKES MARKETING SERVICES, INC.),
Petitioner,
vs.
MARIPHIL L. SALES,
Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
DEL CASTILLO,
J.:
This Petition for Review on Certiorari
1
assails: 1) the Januruy 10, 2012 Decision
2
of the Court of Appeals (CA) in
CA-G.R. SP No. 109860 nullifying and setting aside the February 16, 2009
3
and May 20, 2009
4
Resolutions of
the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in NLRC LAC CN. 07-002404- 08(7)/(8) and reinstating with
modification the April 30, 2008 Decision
5
of the Labor Arbiter in NLRC-NCR Case No. 10-11004-07; and 2) the
CA's May 28, 2012 Resolution
6
denying petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration
7
of the herein Assailed
Decision.
Factual Antecedents
Petitioner ICT Marketing Services, Inc. (ICT) – now known as Sykes Marketing Services, Inc. – is a duly
registered domestic corporation engaged in the business of providing outsourced customer relations
management and business process outsourcing solutions to various clients in government and in the financial
services, insurance, telecommunications, health care, information technology, media, energy, and hospitality
industries.
