HR Soapbox Blog

When Creditors Won't Stop Calling Employees At Work

(Published July 13, 2009)

You may have employees with financial issues that have followed them to the workplace in the form of collection agencies trying to reach them at their jobs. The collectors are just trying to do their own jobs, but once a debt collector has been told not to call the individual at work, they are not allowed to continue to call. Those that do (especially if they are sneaky or rude about it) deserve more than a continued polite insistence that they no longer call.

You can kill 'em with kindness, though. The next time a collection agency asks for the employee, sweetly let them know they can leave a voice-mail message. Then transfer them to a generic voice-mail box set up specifically for these types of calls. Hey, you didn't promise them that anyone would actually listen to the message before deleting it.

When you get the blustery type that insists on speaking to your boss (since they got nowhere with the employee, the employee's boss, or you), simply say, "Please hold while I transfer you." And then put them on a perpetual hold. Preferably with really bad elevator music. (Is there really any good elevator music?)

Of course, these tactics aren't foolproof. Letting them leave a voice-mail message gives them a tiny glimmer of hope that they are getting through and that if they just keep trying, they will get their man (so to speak). And they may chalk up the fact that they were put on eternal hold to you not knowing how to use your phone. So they will call you back to give you another chance to do it correctly.

The funniest suggestion I've heard for dealing with harassing collection calls? Two words: Air horn. (Note: No debt collectors were harmed in the writing of this blog.)

In all seriousness, your best bet is probably to inform them that they are violating federal law and will be reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). And then have the employee do it.

Earlier this month, the operators of a debt collection company agreed to settle FTC charges to the tune of $225,000. According to the FTC, the agency allegedly used illegal and abusive debt collection methods, including: calling consumers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.; calling their workplace when the collectors knew or had reason to know that the calls were inconvenient; continuing to call after receiving consumers' written demands to stop; and using harassing and abusive tactics such as calling many times a day, calling right back after a consumer hung up, and using profane or other abusive language.

Get more information on debt collection calls at: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm.

Gloria Ju
Editor in Chief

Posted by Editorial at 7/13/2009 7:53 AM

If a third party collection firm calls a place of employment after being informed not to, they can reported for violating FDCPA guidelines. There are monetary penalties per occurrence and if they have too many of these the Federal government may get involved.
Posted by: keith hayduk at 7/14/2009 1:56 PM

I was involved in the mentioned suit against the collection company. They were relentless calling 5-8 times EVERY DAY. I filed a complaint with the State Attorney General's office. The only way to get them to stop was to give them the phone number of the Attorney General's Office (who said that they were nothing they could do) and I told the collection company that they were the employee's new employer. Hey, they calls stopped!
Posted by: Jane at 7/14/2009 2:52 PM

I think if the employee is irresponsible and doesn't make their payments, they should deal with the consequences. When I get these calls I transfer them to the employee without telling the employee who's calling. This is the employee's problem, not mine. Why should I stick up for my employee when they are the one in the wrong. I'm on the side of the collections agency, they have the right to try to collect the money owed. When my customers don't pay, I send them to collections as well.
Posted by: Jenny at 7/14/2009 3:08 PM

Contacting the employee at work consequences that I don't want to deal with as an employer. First, the phone call is personal and takes the employee off task. Second, there is also (usually) an emotional response that will plague the employee for varied lengths of time before they can return their concentration to the work tasks.
Finally, it can let the employer know their are issues that are impacting the employee. EAP's can help the employee deal with these issues. The supervisor can suggest they contact the EAP or other debt management companies to help them address the problem.

I look at the EAP reference as a coaching step. I also will very bluntly tell the collector to stop calling and ask to speak to a supervisor to reiterate the point. Don't call my employees at work!
Posted by: Marc at 7/14/2009 4:18 PM

We always ask if this is a family emergency first, then if it is a bill collector, we inform them that we do not allow our employees to take calls that are personal and that we require them to take our company's number off of that person's contact list.

Even if our employee's owe the money, we do not know the circumstances that lead them there -- medical bills, taking care of a sick parent or other family member, an irresponsible spouse or as a result of a messy divorce.

The least we can do as HR professionals is to allow our employees to keep their dignity at work and force them to deal with their situations privately and not on company time.
Posted by: Cheri at 7/15/2009 11:07 AM

Jenny, one would hope that you only hire responsible people who have good judgement. With that in mind, bad things happen to good people. Spouses lose jobs, medical bills go unpaid, old lapses in judgement rear their ugly heads. Wouldn't you rather your employees know you are on their side and foster your employees' loyalty to your organization? Tell the collector where to go, then tell your employee about the call. Why would you want your employee to feel preyed upon at work instead of focusing on the tasks to which they are assigned?
Posted by: Cherri at 7/15/2009 11:07 AM

As HR Director I hope we have instilled within our HR employees the need to be ultra sensitive to all employees regardless of station, position or ranking within the files. All calls received that are either intrusive to an employees performance ability or are unwanted by the employee are easily handled. Employees, without concern, can come to any HR person informing them of the phone call issue and we will firmly deal with the situation... without asking any questions to the employee. We understand these are hard times and do not want to create further harrassing times. HR is highly competent at getting unwanted callers to stop. This is part of good HR training! Our motto includes "happy employees make for a productive environment and a happy employer!" Sites this this one help promote the good health and welfare of HR departments!
Posted by: Stacy Barnes( Visit ) at 7/15/2009 11:21 AM

Jenny would not be a fit in our company because we care about our employees. We have 120 members of our "family" and as their HR, I would help them stop the harassing phone calls.
Posted by: Carol at 7/15/2009 11:28 AM

The writer of this article should re-read the Law. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. FDCPA Section: 805. Communication in connection with debt collection [15 USC 1692c]

(a) COMMUNICATION WITH THE CONSUMER GENERALLY. Without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, a debt collector may not communicate with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt ------- at the consumer's place of employment if the debt collector knows or has reason to know that the consumer's employer prohibits the consumer from receiving such communication."
Prior consent typically is authorized when the debtor supplies their work number to the orginal creditor. The employer has a responsibility to advise any caller of their company policy in personal calls/messages.

Check your state laws to see what they say.

Sending calls to bogus voice mails or playing childish games is not to anyone benefits, especially the debtor who may never get a chance to respond and thus deal with the matter. We should be encouraging everyone including employees to honor their committments and pay their bills. In todays economy, everyone should do their very best in trying to keep their credit scores as high as possible.

From an employers view: employees shouldn't be handling personal matters at work if it takes away from their duties. It is ultimately the debtors responsibility to provide the caller with a good phone number where they can be reached during their non working hours.

Let's teach and promote good will to our staff, and the collection agencies. Not foster childish behavior.
Posted by: Teresa at 7/15/2009 11:35 AM

Jenny, you're a very lucky person if you've never had a financial problem. I know of someone who had a great job and became very ill. Her job provided her family health insurance. When she could no longer work she lost her insurance. To complicate matters more her husband was self employed and the five year contract he had, ended after the third year due to financial issues with the company he was contracting with. These circumstances were out of their control and of course everything dominoed and became overwhelming. They concentrated on getting her health back and he had to find other work, which he did but at significantly less pay and no benefits. In less then two years they lost their house, had over $100,000 in health care and credit card bills. After five years they are still getting creditor calls and "digging" out from under the debt. Creditors have been relentless and the couple had to hire an attorney to help. Due to some other factors- with being cosigners on his elderly mother's bank accounts they were not able to file for bankruptcy as the creditors could take her money. So I ask you, be sympathetic to the employee as you never know their situation and pray that this doesn't happen to you.
Posted by: Cindy at 7/15/2009 11:46 AM

Sometimes a debt is not actually owed. We actually had a guy call us at midnight on a Saturday night to collect a phone call debt that we did not owe and had been supposedly corrected. The caller threatend to call the police on us. Since we know our rights, we laughed, told him to stop bothering us, and hung up. Sometimes a collector is just trying to collect on a debt that really isn't owed. Give your employees a break and don't judge them on if they deserve to be harrassed or not.
Posted by: Renea at 7/15/2009 12:51 PM

The time to judge your employees is during their interview. If you decided they were worthy then, stand by them now.
Posted by: Kora at 7/15/2009 1:07 PM

Some debt collectors follow logical and legal guidelines. Others will try to get people who don't even owe a debt send them money. They will call at inappropriate times and places, lie and cheat. They will contact several people on the same debt, hoping someone will pay just to get them to go away.
It is not the employer's place to determine whether or not the employee has made good or bad financial decisions, but please give them the benefit of the doubt. Do encourage employees to know their rights and to use resources available to them, including the EAP.
Posted by: Roxanne at 7/15/2009 1:48 PM

As employers we are paying for the employees time and want them to be productive. We don't want them to be harrassed by bill collectors at work. Bill colectors are forbidden to call employees at work if the employer does not allow such calls, as mentioned in an earlier post.

Also, our employees personal financial problems are not our business except when they affect their work.

Jenny, not all debtors are deadbeats. A large percentage of people who end up in debt did so because of medical problems or job loss. Also, they "should deal with the consequenses" on their own time, not work time.

Finally, there is a lot of unscrupulous bill collecting going on- it is a profession that is known for using a lot of underhanded taxtics. They call people at work specifically to make them look bad to their employers, in hopes of forcing them to pay up. Also many of the debts they try to collect are not even legitimate. They are currently buying up for pennies on the dollar, and trying to collect old debts that have already been writtin off by the credit card companies. these debts may even be outside of the state statute of limitations for cillecting debt. Them may try to collect debts that have been discharged in bankruptcy, or debts from one person that are actually debts belonging to their ex-spouse.

Bottom line is, work time belongs to the employer, and we don't owe the debt collectors access to our employees during that time.
Posted by: Maura at 7/15/2009 3:05 PM

3rd party debt collectors are much more ethical than 1st party collectors. In defense of the statement "call people at work specifically to make them look bad to their employers" isn't accurate. You cannot reveal the nature of your call to the employer thus you would be communicating private information to a wrong party which is illegal. Therefore 3rd party debt collectors DO NOT state what the nature of the call is about. Also, not all collection agencies are "debt purchasers". Most agencies are trying to collect on behalf of other businesses.
Posted by: Teresa at 7/17/2009 10:32 AM

Teresa, I agree that not all debt collectors are unscrupulous. The 3rd party debt collectors you mentioned probably know and mostly follow the rules. They are professional debt collectors.

But there are also a lot of debt collectors who do not follow the rules. They ahve been known to make repeated calls to an employee's place of work. They give the collection agency profession a bad reputation.

And the practice of purchasing debt is a new and growing phenomenom that has grown with the ability to find people through the internet.
Posted by: Maura at 7/21/2009 7:52 PM

Jenny, you have no compassion and your judgmental attitude is rather concerning for someone who presumably is in the HR field.
Posted by: Diane at 7/22/2009 3:43 PM

Jenny needs to wake up. I have been getting harassed at work by a creditor even though I sent cease letters AND the ID theft police report to them. I have now been forced to file a lawsuit, and you know what? The morons, after being served, still called me this morning.
Posted by: Edward at 8/13/2009 2:57 PM

HR Compliance Information Specialists

Brought to you by the Alexander Hamilton Institute

HR Soapbox Blog

When Creditors Won't Stop Calling Employees At Work