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Police Detain Seven Over Alleged Labor Exploitation at Madrid-Area Call Centers

Investigators say managers coerced undocumented migrants with degrading punishments to drive sales.

Overview

  • Spain’s National Police, working with labor and social security inspectors, searched 15 call centers in Madrid and Fuenlabrada and detained seven suspected managers for a continued offense against workers’ rights.
  • The detainees were placed before judicial authorities after a coordinated operation that tracked operators who repeatedly shifted sites to hinder oversight.
  • Investigators report the centers hired undocumented foreign workers and denied basic rights such as legal work hours, rest days, vacations, fair pay, and medical coverage for on-the-job injuries.
  • Managers imposed daily sales rankings and humiliating punishments, including throwing pies in the face of the lowest-performing worker in front of colleagues.
  • Employees were forced to follow invasive, highly scripted calls designed to confuse people into buying services, raising potential consumer-fraud concerns beyond the labor violations.