British actors union Equity has ramped up its public battle with casting directories like Spotlight by backing an amendment in parliament that it says would stop them charging upfront fees to those looking for work.
On Tuesday April 29, the House of Lords will start debating amendments to the Employment Rights Bill, one of which Equity says would prevent casting directories like Spotlight – and other recruitment platforms for creatives – from charging upfront membership fees to work-seekers. This specific amendment will likely be heard in a couple of weeks’ time.
Equity General Secretary Paul Fleming said: “This is an important step towards ending the tax on hope for performers and creatives who have for too long faced unfair financial barriers to seeking work. If successful, this amendment would pave the way to end upfront fees for casting directories and creative recruitment platforms for good. ”
Supported by a specialist employment rights lawyer, the amendment will be laid down by the Earl of Clancarty Nicholas Trench, a self-employed artist and writer who sits in the House of Lords. The amendment specifically relates to the performing arts and entertainment sectors and calls to “repeal the rights of employment agencies to charge work-seekers for inclusion of information about them in a publication.”
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When presented with Equity’s plan, Spotlight, which has been singled out by Equity and is also facing legal action from the union, pushed firmly back on the notion that it is behaving improperly and pointed out that it has been invited to discuss the amendment with Clancarty and others.
“Spotlight is not an employment agency, and our subscriptions are not upfront fees – just like Equity’s dues,” said Spotlight CEO Matt Hood. “Spotlight is confident the High Court will reach this conclusion in the coming months.”
Hood added: “We are working with Peers and MPs across political parties, and Ministers and civil servants in multiple departments, on a variety of subjects that will have a real impact on UK performers and the wider industry, including performers’ rights, AI, welfare & opportunities for child performers, work in the EU, and safeguarding actors’ self-employed status.”
Currently making its way through the House of Lords, the Employment Rights Bill is one of the new Labour government’s flagship pieces of legislation and deals with areas like working hours, freelance rights and the gig economy, all of which relates to the film and TV industry in some way.
Equity has been at war with Spotlight over membership fees for months. The union launched legal action against the well-known directory for “exploiting its monopoly position in the industry” early last year and Deadline understands this action will be heard in the UK High Court in July. The amendment, we are told, is distinct from the legal action.
The practice of charging for membership to directories is illegal in some sectors but not film and TV, Equity says. While UK law allows the likes of Spotlight to charge for membership, it states that a subscription charge should be “no more than a reasonable estimate of the cost of production.” According to Equity last year, Spotlight had 90,000 members and was earning income in excess of £1.25M ($1.66M) a month. “It is implausible that this figure represents a reasonable estimate of the costs of production and circulation of the directory,” Equity said last year.
Spotlight has previously vowed to fight the legal action while describing Equity’s claims last year as “disingenuous and factually inaccurate.”
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