8.3 a) Contractual & Ethical Issues

Contractual Issues 

Full time Contracts

Full time contracts are typically 35 - 40 hours per week minimum, as they are also considered a career pathway full time jobs are also payed better then part time contracts. Full time contracts also come with added benefits such as sick pay and annual holiday leave which other contracts will not receive.

An example of a Full time contract in TV and Film may be in the financial sector such as an Accountant, this is because they do not need any specific experience in Tv and Film, all they have to do is manage the budget and they can do this across multiple projects. Mike Aichholz who has been an accountant for the 'planet of the apes' series films, as well as the TV series 'Alcatraz' has been able to work across multiple projects with a constant line of work on his contract.

For Mike Aichholz he has been able to have a sense of security with his job, he hasn't had to worry about finding new contracts much like fixed terms. As a first assistant accountant on many of the projects he has worked he will also be building a good portfolio of his work and soon be able to become a head accountant as opposed to an assistant. There is though a risk that the job may become boring as it is easy to be on a full time contract and be comfortable in his current job role as he has that added security, and it may become apparent that he hasn't furthered his career as he would have liked too.
From an institutional point of view there is also a security as they do not need to advertise and hire someone for each project, as they will always have an accountant to do the task. What perhaps is a little more frustrating for the institution is the fact that they have to continuously pay them even if there are no current projects for Mike Aichholz to work on. Also because of the type of contract he is on it makes it harder for the institution to fire him, as they need sufficient reasoning behind it.

Part time contract

Part time contracts are normally jobs that are less then 30 hours per week. however Teachers who will work under that are still on full time contracts as they work a scheduled Monday to Friday. Part time contracts will normally work on a rota system with shift work, to continuously fulfill the job role.

A runner would be considered a part time job, as they often do little odd jobs for different sections of the crew. The producers/director will need you for only a certain amount of time each day or may only need you to work for a couple of days per week. The job of a runner is considered as an entry level job and the employee is only needed as and when required.

Working on a part time job means that the employee is entitled to all of the benefits that full time workers get. Employees are on a Pro Rata which means the amount of hours the employee works will relate to the amount of benefits they receive. The difficulties for the runner on part time contracts are that they may not get many, if any, hours a week which means they wont get paid. Also part time employees, (runners especially) perhaps may be seen as lower down the hierarchy and will receive jobs that no one else wants to do, which cane make work very frustrating at times.
For the institution, runners are a way of employing someone as and when needed to do jobs that no one else wants to do and can be used fairly extensively for the little pay they receive. However there is a reliability issue with employees on part time contracts, people are able to leave fairly easily which generates a high turnover of employees. Whilst its easier to fire them, institutions may find that people on part time contracts perhaps may do the bear minimum as the pay i not particularly good.

Fixed term contract 

A fixed term contract is typically the duration of the contract in which it will end upon completion of a specific task or a certain date. Moreover, when working with fixed term contracts it means that the person is self-employed and can chose when they want to sign a new contract of work. Fixed term contracts are usually more frequent in the film industry, sectors such as editorial or management etc. The majority will all work on fixed term contracts as certain people work on certain stages of production. Furthermore, there's not a constant flow of films being produced, so people are hired when a film starts and will leave when the end product has been completed or their contract has just run out.

brent white, editior of Anchorman 2

Editors who will work on fixed term contracts, will be able to fit work around their personal life. The amount of time that they work in a calendar year is very flexible, also they have a sense of security as they know they have a stable flow of work for certain periods of time. But, work is not always guaranteed as films are not constantly being made.  Brent white, is an example of working on fixed term contracts as he edited 'Anchorman 2' for 'Dreamworks Pictures' then moved on to edit the '40 year old virgin' for 'Universal.' This shows that he had a continuous stream of work, editing films every year.

Furthermore, for the institution (Dreamworks) they were able to hire Brent for the time it took to edit the film and then could release him. They only had to pay him for the time needed and don't have to continuously pay people when they aren't even needed. Although flexibility in the work force

can be seen as a major positive it does cause a concern during the near completion of a film. If the contract has run out and the employee moves on, the institution are left with a incomplete film and will need to hire another person which potentially might not be as good.

Agency Contracts

Agency work is a contract that you have with the agency in which they will find you work with a separate institution that is suitable for your specific requirements. This would connote that as the employee they have no rights, however the employee is entitled to the benefits after 3 months of work. Also if the employee has done an exemplary job then the employer has to pay a fee to the agency to secure the services and almost the rights to keep the person on a permanent basis, which would then release the employee from the agency.  

Agency contracts are something that aren't particularly used in the media industry, many institutions will employ different people on different contracts directly not through an agency. An Agency that does specialise in employing people for the media sector is Aspire, perhaps not specifically in TV/Film but are one of very few that are for the media sector. However Agency contracts can be seen mainly through the administrative jobs. Where people will work for the agency but perhaps used in the more business sectors as they can do the day to do work to keep the business running smoothly, (taking calls etc.) and they don't have to be paid that much. 

For people that do work through Agencies, they do perhaps have a feeling of no stress. They have the reassurance that the agency will find them work and will be a continuous stream of work. The negatives to Agency work is the fact the the employees rights are very limited, the most the agency has to provide is a safe working environment, also the employees benefits are limited to non existent. Which perhaps is taking advantage for the employee, of course is the major downfall to this issue.
For an institution such as BluePrint pictures as an example of a small production company, if they did use an agency it is easier for them as they will always be able to find an employee. However there is a big risk that that the candidates given to BluePrint may be very poor and disinterested in the project, which is something that no institution will want to have in their crew.

Contract Confidentially 

Contract Confidentiality is a clause in an employees contract that entails the privacy of the project that is being produced. Until the release date of the film/tv program the employee is strictly not allowed to give details about any aspect of the project. The employee may still be under this clause even though their contract may have expired because the project has not been released. If caught leaking information about the project, the institution have the right to sue as you have breached the clause in you're contract.

Nearly everyone that works in the TV and Film sector will all have this clause in their contracts, this clause would perhaps effect everyone equally, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu would have had this clause in his contract when producing 'The Revenant' a film that was supposed to be very big. He would have had to be careful about what things he could say when being a guest on talk shows much like Leonardo DiCaprio would have only been allowed to say certain things, (which would be very few) before the film was released.

For Alejandro Inarritu of course to even his friends he couldn't tell them anything about the film, so being very secretive can be very hard at times, it perhaps can 'spill' into his personal life which would become very difficult. However on a personal level perhaps it does allow for great success, as when the film is finally released the public & critics will be very amazed by the worked he has produced.
For the institution in this case New Regency Pictures (production company) & 20th Century Fox (distribution company), confidentiality does mean that none of the other big 6 Hollywood companies may steal their idea, and allows for legal backup if someone in the production crew was leaking information and breaching their contract. The difficulties with this issue is it would be hard for the institution to find the culprit that leaked the information, and in general people aren't reliable/trustworthy to keep the secret.

    

Contract Exclusivity

Contract Exclusivity is an agreement that ensures that the employee strictly works for one institution and can not sign a contract to also work for another rival institution. A non compete clause may also be added into the employees contract, where the person is not allowed to work for any rival institution for a 90 day period after their contract has already expired.

Much of the employees that work in the TV and Film industry will work on an exclusive fixed term contract. Stephen Mirrione an editor who has worked on 'The Revenant(2015)' also 'Birdman(2014)' both have been produced by New Regency Pictures, which would illustrate how he has constantly had contracts with this specific institution, showing his exclusivity with New Regency Pictures.

A positive for Stephen Mirrione would be that it does show complete dedication and focus on the projects, perhaps something that the institution may recognise and continue to offer him contracts to continuously work on projects. However it does restrict his work, he is not able to work on multiple projects even though he may be capable, which in turn would restrict the amount he potentially could be paid, if this clause was not in place.
However for New Regency Pictures it does allow them to have fully focused and energised employees, as opposed to employees that may be tired from the workload of too projects or perhaps they arent putting in the effort or meeting a sufficient standard that is acceptable. Perhaps this clause does make it harder to recruit, but it does allow for better working environment as perhaps the employees want to work for them and are more humble to have the opportunity, which others that are working on many different projects wont have.

Ethical Issues

Codes of Practice

This is a law that clearly outlines rules that employers must follow when in the process of hiring, as well as abiding to it through the entirety of the employees stay.

The equality act 2010 is in place to outline specific characteristics that many people have, it is a law to help protect and fight discrimination & prejudice within the work place. Certain, "protected characteristics" such as, " gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership,  race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation" are believed to be important aspects of peoples lives that should be guarded when applying for work, or when already in employment.

An example would be news presenters, there is a stereotypical view point, where by it is common to see a younger, attractive women alongside a white middle aged man. The Equality act has been able to stop this stereotype and allow for all females/ males to become presenters and have a fair chance of employment.

As an employee the act allows for them to have a sense of security and protection in their job, now that the employer must have sufficient reasoning for firing. It also allows for the employee to have the right of fair and equal opportunities perhaps in trying to achieve a promotion, now any one has the chance to gain it. The downfall though is that there are 'loop holes' within specific parts of the act that the employer can use to their advantage, whether that's on a hiring & firing basis or in treatment of the employees within the work place.
For the employer the act means that there is more of a happier mood in the work force. If everyone knows they are being treated equally then they are all much happier in their job role. It does mean though that the decisions the employer makes have to be very precise as if they aren't careful then they are liable to a lawsuit.

Agency policies & procedures

This is a series of documents that are produced by the institution to clearly outline their code of ethics, much like The Equality Act 2010, but it has been produced by the company instead of the government.

The BBC's Code of Ethical Policy is a document that is used as explicit framework in how the BBC conducts its self for workers to have, "safe working conditions" as well as "protection of workers right" which spans from the whole of the BBC as a business and their, "suppliers" which are in turn other institutions/ any other that the BBC has purchased from or uses their services.

Anybody who works for the BBC would come under this policy, as it deals with every employees safety and wellbeing, an example would be James Harding, a director of news and current affairs at the BBC. He would be ensured that his environment was safe and that he his protected against any discrimination, however this would all be the same for any of the employees at the BBC

James Harding is able to be protected by both the BBC's policy and the equality act 2010, perhaps what is a big positive for him is the fact that he has much legal documentation that he could potentially use if he was every wrongly dismissed. A major down point would be that the BBC would indefinitely created this document with 'loop holes' to ensure they could manipulate it and whilst legally abiding by their policies they are still able to do what they want.
For the BBC thought they perhaps are able to gauge some very good publicity by having this legal policy in place. This policy may bring them into a good light with in the media which would make them seem like a better company, rather then their rivals such was ITV etc. A negative for the BBC is now they have to follow at the policy says, perhaps before this document was created it was very easy for them to do what they wanted with their work force. Now they have to have many sufficient reasons behind every decision they make. 

Emerging social concerns & expectations

These are concerns that the public have which are now more pressing in today's society, as opposed to the society of 30 years ago. They are emerging social concerns such as disabilities, psychological health & gender orientations. 

Social concerns which the public are now becoming increasingly apprehensive about would be things such as, gender orientation, various disabilities and others. What the act does entail would be how many of these pressing issues are in fact already, "protected characteristics" that the act has accommodated for. The act is very extensive as to who qualifies under the acts, "definitions," however many people will qualify as the act is very broad asit tries to accomodate everybody. 

An example of this issue could be seen in the tv program 'The Last Leg' exhibited on channel 4. this program consists of the presenter, Adam Hills who does not have a right foot and Alex Brooker who also has various disabilities. The program can bee seen as an example of  social concerns as now people with disabilities are now being hired and shown more on TV which would imply that the Equality Act is doing its job.

For the employee whilst social concerns are constantly changing and as the public will always have high expectations, under the act the employee, much like codes of practice has this sense of job safety and security. Employers are now being forced to treat employees with disabilities equally and not to abuse this is something that employees never had a decade ago. However the employees do find them selves at risk, some employers may simply choose to just not abide by the act and in some cases there is no evidence etc, and so the employee finds themselves with no job and no case to sue.
From an employer side though, as they are now forced to look at everyone, perhaps they have found that people with these disabilities are very capable and good at the job they do. Certainly through 'The Last Leg' the public almost loved the fact that Adam & Alex were able to run the show which can have only improved channel 4's viewer rating and brought in more profit. 

Representation. 

Representations of social backgrounds that employees have are protected from prejudice and discrimination. Employers have to abide by the legal documents to consider everyone whatever their background may be. 

The act broadly covers many different social backgrounds which again are protected by the act from any discrimination and prejudice. Many things like religion, race ethnicity are all, "protected characteristics" the act covered the fact that any one no matter where they originated from has the, "guarantee of freedom of thought, conscience and religion." The act largely covered many different social backgrounds, it was not all about race & religion but also about sexual orientation and gender reassignment. 

Within TV an example could be seen in Kristin Digby a presenter and director for the BBC who was open about being homosexual. The BBC seemed to support him and  allowed him to present the program , "to buy or not to buy" (his most famous work) whilst dieing at a young age, Digby was able to influence much of the media industry by being open about his sexuality and encourage more people to continue their pathways into media despite their sexuality. His work has been recognised, thus allowing for the equality act to recognise this concern and add it to one of the protected characteristics. 

For employees being able to have a sense of freedom in the work place and feel comfortable means a great deal as only a few years ago being open about sexuality would not have been an option. A downside though is perhaps there is still not enough being done, perhaps people are still being discriminated against in the work place as well as employee's feeling they can't be open as they might attract prejudice.
From an employers point of view to have a more diverse cultural work force may be a real positive. Perhaps it allows for a more focused and comfortable working environment as everyone feels safe, and if the work force is happy then more work will actually get done. However if an institution is employing some people that are different perhaps existing employees may not like this and it could create massive amounts of tension leading to potential risks of abuse which is an issue no employer wants to deal with.