Brace yourself because this entry is just all about my rants. It's hard to contain it all, and this lump in my throat needs a space here on my blog, so I'm gonna pour it all out right here. This is my special Labor Day complaint - a speech as to how labored I feel I am.
Remembered my entry about my transfer to a different account? I was so excited then, and as expected, the training was fun and smooth-sailing. That was a good transition, or so I thought. Until we were endorsed to the floor and would be taking in calls. My first day there wasn't at all pleasant, and as much as I don't wanna remember that nightmare, it is now becoming my everyday life. From the very first day up to now (and still painfully counting), we (my co-batchmates) haven't had really enjoyed a normal hour break. Though they've already warned us of the cancelled breaks, I just can't bear it. Being a newbie of the account, I was expecting of a very magical term called consideration. My shift starts at 7am, and since I am not used to early breakfast, I only had bread and coffee then. Of course, hunger strike was at around 12 noon. Yet, no one's allowed to take their breaks, and let me rephrase it, no one was allowed to pee (if you are not skillful enough to put your customer on hold, keep your kidneys from bursting, and run to the comfort room in three minutes which is about 50 meters back and forth), or if there's one agent available to get the queue, no one is still allowed to eat. And this went on for hours. I was able to eat my lunch at around 3pm (my very first break, hurrah!) and that was only good for 15 minutes. My work has taught me how to eat fast (that is, swallowing without grinding the food). Imagine how painful it is for your empty stomach to be suddenly filled with solid food. I didn't know how I was able to survive my first 8 straight hours on the phone with customers I could barely understood and with devices I could barely troubleshot. Imagine working with an empty stomach. And as if that was not enough, we had to render an hour overtime. Again, overtime! It was starvation, adjustment, disappointment, frustration and confusion all at once on my first day. And oh, should I mention that my second day is much the same, except that the bar went higher because our overtime is TWO HOURS. Big letters - TWO HOURS! Guess they don't need agents after all, what they need is Superman. And I just would like to highlight that one moment in my lovely work life. This was yesterday when I got lucky because they did grant my break request at 11:30am (bless their heart) for 15 minutes. I finished my lunch for 10 minutes (it's becoming a talent) and went back to my table while sipping my Coke. As I was about to take my seat, this lady in-charge told me to press my backup aux, which I did, and boom, a customer is waiting for me to answer the phone. That really pissed me off. My god, 15 minutes! 15 minutes was all I asked for and they can't even give it to me in full! Kaluoy na lang unta! Not to mention that we will soon render our weekly work on rest day.
Remembered my entry about my transfer to a different account? I was so excited then, and as expected, the training was fun and smooth-sailing. That was a good transition, or so I thought. Until we were endorsed to the floor and would be taking in calls. My first day there wasn't at all pleasant, and as much as I don't wanna remember that nightmare, it is now becoming my everyday life. From the very first day up to now (and still painfully counting), we (my co-batchmates) haven't had really enjoyed a normal hour break. Though they've already warned us of the cancelled breaks, I just can't bear it. Being a newbie of the account, I was expecting of a very magical term called consideration. My shift starts at 7am, and since I am not used to early breakfast, I only had bread and coffee then. Of course, hunger strike was at around 12 noon. Yet, no one's allowed to take their breaks, and let me rephrase it, no one was allowed to pee (if you are not skillful enough to put your customer on hold, keep your kidneys from bursting, and run to the comfort room in three minutes which is about 50 meters back and forth), or if there's one agent available to get the queue, no one is still allowed to eat. And this went on for hours. I was able to eat my lunch at around 3pm (my very first break, hurrah!) and that was only good for 15 minutes. My work has taught me how to eat fast (that is, swallowing without grinding the food). Imagine how painful it is for your empty stomach to be suddenly filled with solid food. I didn't know how I was able to survive my first 8 straight hours on the phone with customers I could barely understood and with devices I could barely troubleshot. Imagine working with an empty stomach. And as if that was not enough, we had to render an hour overtime. Again, overtime! It was starvation, adjustment, disappointment, frustration and confusion all at once on my first day. And oh, should I mention that my second day is much the same, except that the bar went higher because our overtime is TWO HOURS. Big letters - TWO HOURS! Guess they don't need agents after all, what they need is Superman. And I just would like to highlight that one moment in my lovely work life. This was yesterday when I got lucky because they did grant my break request at 11:30am (bless their heart) for 15 minutes. I finished my lunch for 10 minutes (it's becoming a talent) and went back to my table while sipping my Coke. As I was about to take my seat, this lady in-charge told me to press my backup aux, which I did, and boom, a customer is waiting for me to answer the phone. That really pissed me off. My god, 15 minutes! 15 minutes was all I asked for and they can't even give it to me in full! Kaluoy na lang unta! Not to mention that we will soon render our weekly work on rest day.
Oh my, so much for my complaints. Yeah, I admit that I complain all the time, but this is almost an inhumane treatment. Regular office hours is nine hours, by which only 8 hours are paid, because that remaining one hour is intended for lunch. So that means that we are working our asses off for another hour without being paid for, plus only a day per week off work, which will happen regularly. Yeah, sure, I will be richer (as if my salary is big enough compared to other companies). That's fine by me PROVIDED that they'll let me devour my food for at least 20 minutes. I can take one or two hours of overtime PROVIDED that they'll let me eat my lunch on time. I guess that was not asking too much. I am staying in the company because I wanted to, not until today anyway. It's not that the company should be thankful that I stay, who am I anyway but just another agent needing money, can't resign yet because of a loan I am still paying. Eating should've been an employee's right but it's coming out of my mouth as a plead. JUST LET ME EAT ON TIME, FOR GOD'S SAKE!
