Police have arrested seven suspects in a raid on call centres where bosses humiliated workers with “pies to the face” over missed targets.
Footage shows a sales leaderboard displayed in the office, with cakes thrown into the faces of those who finished at the bottom of the list, in front of their colleagues.
The suspects – four men and three women – were arrested on suspicion of offences against workers’ rights.
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The investigation began after Spanish police became aware of humiliating punishments and other exploitative practices at call centres employing foreign nationals.
In a raid on 15 centres carried out on 10 March, officers “rescued” 48 workers, as reported by Need To Know.
Of these, 31 were irregular migrants in Spain and 16 were not registered with the Social Security system.
The bosses had attempted to evade police by constantly changing premises. However, officers managed to track them down in Madrid and Fuenlabrada.
“The individuals in charge of the centres hired foreign nationals without work permits and subjected them to abusive conditions that deprived them of any labour rights,” Spain’s State Labour and Social Security Inspectorate (OEITSS) said in a statement on Thursday (9 Apr).
The workers were required to cold-call members of the public and, using a pre-prepared script, aggressively sell products and services.
They were assigned daily targets, ranked, and either rewarded or punished in degrading ways depending on their performance.
“Among the humiliating practices was throwing cakes in the face of the worker who came last in the ranking, in front of all their colleagues,” the OEITSS said.
Aware of the workers’ irregular status, the bosses allegedly made them work hours exceeding legal limits, while also denying them mandatory rest days, holidays, fair pay, and medical insurance.
Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s Minister of Labour and Social Economy, said: “Forty-eight people have been protected in this operation. They were living in humiliating situations that cannot be tolerated.”
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