Broadcaster BSkyB has apologised to call-centre workers for an “unfortunate incident” after employees received a note telling them to limit their toilet breaks to eight minutes a day.
The staff in Livingston in Scotland got the letters from a manager who had “interpreted company guidelines relating to how much time they could spend not fielding calls, incorrectly”, a BSkyB spokesman said. He stressed that the instructions were not company policy.
The call centre has 350 staff, but the spokesman claimed that few people had received the toilet-break instructions. “It was sent to a handful of people and all these people have been spoken to directly and the situation explained,” the spokesman said.
Earlier this year, BSkyB set up a staff forum to improve dialogue between managers and staff.
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The forum is a panel of 67 staff representatives, elected by the company’s 13,000 employees, which gives them a platform to air views and discuss ideas with colleagues and members of the executive committee.
Chief executive James Murdoch and members of the executive team attend every national forum, which meets up to six times every year, and local forums are attended by the relevant senior managers.
