Received from: Equity
Congress:
i. notes that, while the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 prohibits charging upfront fees to work-seekers in most industries, the performing arts and entertainment industries are exempt from this ban:
ii. recognises that performers and creative workers – and not engagers, casting directors or agents – pay significant fees, often in excess of £180 per year, for their inclusion in a casting directory, regardless of whether or not they obtain work; and
iii. notes that, during a cost-of-living crisis, this cost places a significant burden on workers in an industry already characterised by insecure work and unpredictable income.
Congress calls, therefore, on the TUC to:
a. support the repeal of this unfair exemption for the performing arts and entertainment industries and call for such casting directory fees to be borne by producers, not workers
b. lobby the government to bring forward legislation to remove the exemption.
Equity