Rain call centre staff in major dispute with outsourcing company

Rain customer support staff who have been outsourced to Wipro have lodged a wide-ranging labour dispute against their employer that is being heard by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

Rain outsourced its call centre operations to Wipro on 1 November 2022. Wipro is a New York Stock Exchange-listed company headquartered in Bangalore, India.

It transferred all the support agents it employed directly to the company. At the time, Rain employed 150 people in Bryanston and 300 spread between offices in Johannesburg and Durban.

Prior to the outsourcing, staff accused Rain in 2021 of pressuring them to move from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Rain acknowledged that staff members were given the opportunity to move to Cape Town but denied allegations that anyone was pressured.

Staff members then contacted MyBroadband in September 2022 to express fears about being outsourced, saying they were worried about losing their jobs or having their salaries cut.

Even if they kept their jobs for now, the staff were afraid that Wipro would eventually lay them off.

Rain assured that these fears were unwarranted, saying it had undertaken the outsourcing process precisely to ensure all staff would keep their jobs.

Two years later, the staff have lodged a series of complaints with the CCMA, including that their salaries have effectively been reduced and are continually declining.

Employees say their contracts include a variable pay clause, but their Wipro managers have said they don’t qualify.

They’ve also complained that pay for Sundays and public holidays decreased substantially.

Wipro told staff they discovered a mistake where staff were being paid 2.5× their regular rate on Sundays and triple on public holidays.

According to their contracts, staff are entitled to 1.5× pay on Sundays and double time on public holidays.

Staff are contesting Wipro’s calculations.

Another point of contention was the revocation of work-from-home privileges and asking employees to return their laptops.

This had several knock-on effects.

Wipro did not make transport arrangements for workers who then had to come into the office for the late shift and couldn’t catch a bus or taxi home.

The building’s air conditioner also didn’t work on weekends, and staff complained there was inadequate ventilation.

During the recent water supply interruptions in Johannesburg, staff were told they couldn’t take annual leave at short notice when they found their water cut off — they had to put in unpaid leave.

When the toilets in the Wipro building didn’t work, staff complained that they were told to go to a nearby mall to use the bathrooms.

Rain’s outsourced call centre operators also complained that they were being treated differently from other Wipro employees.

They pointed out that Wipro offers workers in India special leave concessions during water crises, but this was denied to staff in Johannesburg.

Staff also said that Wipro managers tried to implement a “no cellphone” policy at work — something they found untenable as many of them are parents.

The employees also lodged complaints over last-minute scheduling changes and unequal recognition for religious holidays and days of worship.

One source who spoke on condition of anonymity told MyBroadband that staff were informed that Rain had paid them high salaries relative to other customer support agents.

Wipro had to take over these existing contracts during the outsourcing.

However, the source explained that for every former Rain call centre operator who leaves — whether because of poor working conditions or another reason — Wipro could hire two in their place.

MyBroadband contacted Wipro and Rain for comment on the dispute.

“This is a pending employment arbitration, which has been referred to the CCMA. We cannot comment any further at this time,” a Wipro spokesperson said.

Rain declined to comment, saying Wipro was one of its many external partners.

“We cannot comment on another company’s internal processes,” Rain said.