Costa Rica's Mandatory Employee Christmas Bonus Scares Off Some Call Center Outsourcers
Costa Rica's Mandatory Employee Christmas Bonus Scares Off Some Call Center Outsourcers
June 05, 2012
While Costa Rica has been building a reputation for itself as a call center outsourcing site – companies such as IBM, Dell, Intel (News - Alert) and Hewlett Packard have facilities located in the country – many of the nation's labor laws scare away would-be investors or partner companies. Many of the company's employee-related laws such as collective bargaining, unions, employee associations, mandatory vacation and sick days, minimum wages, maternity leave, and other rights enshrined by law, spook North American companies away from Costa Rica's shores.
One of the most contentious issues, however, is known as the “aguinaldo,” or the state-mandated Christmas bonus for employees. The aguinaldo, which must be paid to every employee in Costa Rica during the month of December, is calculated by adding up all of the payments made to the employee each month for the last year, and then dividing it by 12, according to the Costa Rica Star.
While many companies consider it a cost of doing business – the labor savings are still present compared to similar jobs done by U.S. workers – many other companies are spooked by the tradition and have avoided Costa Rica as a business process outsourcing location.
At least one call center company is quitting Costa Rica when it comes to call center jobs, and returning those jobs to U.S. shores. GoErie.com, a local business news source for Erie, Pennsylvania, profiles William McCarthy, owner of Erie-based eDialMarketing LLC, a call center outsourcing firm. McCarthy recently announced plans to create 1,100 local jobs in the next year, including 640 by the end of September. These jobs will be returning from Costa Rica, in part because high unemployment in Erie has made hiring U.S. call center workers more attractive, but also because of the aguinaldo.
More:
http://outbound-call-center.tmcnet.com/topics/outbound-call-center/articles/293225-costa-ricas-mandatory-employee-christmas-bonus-scares-off.htm
