Italy: new norms against call center offshoring

Measures sanctioning call center offshoring as intended by the 2017 Finance Law have just come into force. With strong backing from the trade unions, the new measures both impose constraints on and impede companies from using call centers that are located outside of the EU and   allow consumers to demand that they speak with an operator in Italy or at least in the EU. These latest norms come at a time when Italy’s call center segment is in crisis and when the country’s primary operator Almaviva is shedding hundreds of Italian jobs.
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According to the new regulation (which enables the application of the completely ineffective 2012 law) all companies that decide to locate their call centers outside of the EU, including opting for ex-EU sub-contractor services, must now inform the Labor Ministry, the Economic Development Ministry, the Labor Inspectorate, and the Personal Data Protection Guarantor, at least thirty days prior to transferring the call center business. Companies that already rely on ex-EU call centers had to have

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