Monday, March 10, 2025 - A Nigerian employee of Teleperformance Kenya, a subsidiary of the global digital business services firm, was found dead in her Lower Kabete apartment last Friday.
According to sources, her body had reportedly been
decomposing for three days before colleagues discovered her, raising questions
about the company’s response to her absence.
Colleagues of the deceased have since staged a strike,
citing longstanding grievances regarding work permits, tax deductions without
remittance, and denied benefits.
They allege that the company withheld essential
documentation, leaving many unable to access services such as NHIF and NSSF
despite deductions from their salaries.
Further claims suggest that the deceased, who worked as a
TikTok content moderator, had repeatedly requested leave and a return ticket
(entitlements under her contract) but was denied permission to travel home.
Workers have also accused management of mistreating
employees who raise concerns, with some fearing retaliation for speaking out.
While the cause of death remains unclear, tensions between
employees and management are now quickly escalating, with the company
reportedly instructing workers not to post about their late colleague or
discuss the matter publicly.
"Good afternoon
Nyakundi. Please can you highlight our story? We lost a Teleperformance
Nigerian employee. She was found dead in her room on Friday, decomposing after
three days. The company is trying to hide it and we would like the story
shared.
The deceased is a
Nigerian national working as a TikTok content moderator since 2022. As per the
contract, she is entitled to a return ticket every year, but she went home only
once after begging and crying to the management.
We are blaming
Teleperformance because they denied her leave days and a work permit, so she
couldn't go home. She went to managers crying, but they were videoing her and
laughing at her.
She didn’t have a work
permit, like most Nigerian workers, hence they denied her the chance to go home
after so many attempts.
When she didn’t show
up for work from Wednesday, 5th March 2025, the company didn’t do any welfare
check on her, even though she wasn’t picking up calls or responding to
messages.
It was only on Friday,
7th March 2025, after work, around 5–6 PM, that a colleague decided to go check
on her since no one had heard from her. The company never did a welfare check.
The moderation job is
quite difficult and challenging. You are exposed to all sorts of content, which
could be graphic and gruesome, pornographic, and the rest.
Although, just like
any other job, we are trained to overcome the difficulties and challenges of
moderation.
Nonetheless, the lack
of good welfare for content moderators, lack of legality, and security are
challenges that have persisted to date in the Bytedance process here in Kenya.
The management has
been stopping her colleagues from posting her pictures or talking about her
death, claiming that they share the blame 50-50.
Her colleagues have
been striking since Friday, refusing to work, as the majority of them have
never had work permits.
They don’t have KRA
PINs, yet their tax is deducted without remittance, the same with NSSF and
NHIF.
Whenever they ask
questions, the company has kept lying to them for years, saying they are
working on it. On Saturday, the management told them that if they can’t work
and wait for the work permits, they should resign and go back to Nigeria.
Other colleagues, out
of fear of retaliation or victimisation, are scared to speak."
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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