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AFNI Call Center Under Fire for Allegedly Packing Trainees in Elbow-to-Elbow Amidst COVID-19
A Tuscon call center is the latest to come under fire for not practicing social distancing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Five current and former trainees for global contact center company AFNI told News 4 Tuscon that management had not been practicing social distancing.
The workers said that until as recently as April 1 they had been sitting "elbow-to-elbow" in training classes. And when they complained to management, they said they were told they could resign if they didn't like the policy.
The allegations follow complaints from call center workers from Oregon to Florida, who complain that they have been working in close quarters with hundreds of other workers in the same building and even on the same floor, with seemingly no accommodations for the social distancing guidelines mandated by the coronavirus crisis. And in all cases, the companies had either made no concessions for remote work, or only allowed some employees to work from home, while others were made to come to an office as usual.
In the case of AFNI, trainees complained of feeling unsafe and being packed into training classes. One worker said that as of April 3 the company had moved them farther apart, but they were still not close to the 6-foot space recommended for social distancing. He added that his class had begun with around 25 trainees but about 10 had dropped out by the end, due to health concerns.
“We were about two-and-a-half feet away from each other,” said the trainee, who preferred to remain anonymous. "I could reach out my arm and touch my neighbor. There were multiple people around me who were coughing and expressing the fact that they weren’t feeling well. That their family at home were not feeling well, that they had experienced fevers and dry coughs, and we were right up on top of each other practically and it made me fear for my health and what I was going to bring home to my own family.”
“Like many businesses, we have been diligently working to navigate this global health crisis and government interventions taking place everywhere we do business," said Matt Pendergrass, director of global marketing & communications of AFNI, in a statement responding to the allegations. "We have done this with the safety and well-being of our employees as our highest priority as we deliver on our customer commitments around the world. If you enter any of our training rooms in that facility [Tuscon] today, you will see that social distancing provisions are in place; this includes but is not limited to allowing a maximum of only ten people in any one classroom, instead of 20-25 under normal circumstances, and all classrooms have been reconfigured to allow for social/physical distancing consistent with guidance issued by prominent health organizations.”
He added that 85 percent of the workforce at the Tuscon call center was working from home, and the company expected that number to reach 95 percent. He also said AFNI had reconfigured the entire 50,000 square-foot facility to help with social ands physical distancing efforts.
The former trainees said they have filed complaints with the Arizona Industrial Commission due to the crowded training sessions. In Oregon, where employees at several Wells Fargo (News - Alert) call centers complained of cramped and unsafe conditions, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been overwhelmed with similar complaints of employers breaking state social distancing orders.
Edited by Maurice Nagle
