2. Rights of the Employer and Employees
• Employers have a responsibility to their workforce to provide for their health and Safety in
the workplace. In the event that an employee makes a claim against the company the
company must have a current employer’s liability insurance policy which matches the current
law system or face a fine. This is the result of the “Employer’s liability (Compulsory Insurance)
Act 1969.
• Public liability insurance while not optional is useful especially if you work in the media
industry. You, your crew or equipment could potentially cause damages to the public if you
are conducting your work in a public area. This would cost you around £50 a year but would
protect from lawsuits.
• Employees are granted the following rights amongst others: paid annual leave (working full
time grants you a minimum 28 days), paid maternity/ paternity/ adoption leave, Maximum of
48 hours of work per week. Other rights include Holidays, protection from discrimination,
right to join a trade union (it is good idea to join a union as you have the backing of your
fellow co-workers). There are other rights that you should know are listed in the link:
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_rights_at_work_e/basic_rights_at_w
ork.htm
3. Health and Safety
“Employers have a general duty under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to
ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees at
work. People in control of non-domestic premises have a duty (under section 4 of the Act)
towards people who are not their employees but use their premises. The Regulations expand on
these duties and are intended to protect the health and safety of everyone in the workplace, and
ensure that adequate welfare facilities are provided for people at work.”
(http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg244.pdf)
This is the basis of the Health and Safety system that protects the rights and well-being of all
persons in the workplace in the UK. This also covers people who are not employed by the
particular employer but have legitimate reason to present on his/her premises. Without this
system we would be at the mercy of a cruel tyrannical bosses who treat as they pleased like in
the in the 18th century.
4. Equal opportunities
• Equal rights is the foundation of many great western societies and employers must pass
these rights onto their employees in the workplace.
• Parliament has a number acts that deal with discrimination, they are:
• Sex Discrimination Act 1975
• Race Relations Act 1976
• Equal Pay Acts 1970 and 1983
• Disability Discrimination Act 1995
• Human Rights Act 1998
• http://www.cepr.org/aboutcepr/policies.htm
• These laws are in place to make sure that you are not discrimnated against in the workplace
for your gender and/or Race and you receive the same payment for your position and the
rights to opportunities for advancement as everyone else.
5. Ownership in copyright, intellectual
properties, and trademarks
• Just because you came up with idea doesn’t mean you will always own that idea. If
you were working for a company and you came up with an idea for them they own
it not you. A classic example would be Walt Disney who when he was working at
universal created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, however when he was fired he lost the
rights to Oswald because Universal owned the rights to the character.
• At the same if you create an IP (Intellectual Property) and sell it to a company you
essentially sell the copyright to the company which means they own it not you.
• Sometimes you may be brought to court on suspicion of plagiarism, that’s why you
mail the original ideas to yourself via registered post in a sealed envelope which
can be opened in a court case and be used as evidence.
6. Ethical Standards and Practices
Ethics
plural noun
1. ( used with a singular or plural verb ) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.
“The commissioning editor must also ask the executive producer or producer to provide assurances that
the programme team has adequate experience, ability and resources to enable them to understand and
address the Ofcom Code, and the legal and best practice issues their programme is likely to throw up.
Please see the Viewer Trust Guidelines for further details of these obligations, including the importance
of referral up within the production company and to Channel 4.”
• This is a system which works with the wealth of the human rights and equality laws that have
passed such as the Human Rights Act of 1998. Employers would have contact with lawyers who
would know the law and advise them when they set up their codes of practice (“Written guidelines
issued by an official body or a professional association to it’s members to help them comply with
it’s ethical standards”).
• Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/code-of-practice.html#ixzz1wLpFz9dD
These codes of practice are for the benefit of their consumer audience (or at least they think it’s
for the benefit). If would be wise for a producer to keep a legal advisory group to help while a
program is being made to protect from any legal issues.
7. Contracts
A contract is a legal document that represents the legal acceptance of a business offer.
• When one decides to work for a company they must sign a contract which they both agree
on which binds them to that specific company.
• TV has 2 contractual obligations which make it unique. These are: Exclusivity and
Confidentiality
• Exclusivity: This is an agreement within a contract that binds a particular person or persons to
a company for a fixed amount of time, during this time the person or persons cannot work
for another company or else they could be sued for breach of contract. Examples of this
would be Singers, Actors, Celebrities, and Sports coverage.
• Confidentiality: This an agreement usually found in contracts that require the persons
involved with a project to remain silent about said project to absolutely anyone except when
they have authorisation by the owner. The reason confidentiality is important is because it
protects works in progress from external parties that may plagiarise them for their own ends.
8. IP and Copyright
In order to protect your hard work from pirates and thieves who may want to make money
off of your ideas without your consent, there is a system within the law called copyright
and intellectual property.
• “Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic
works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.” Usually the
copyright will belong to the original creator. Bear in mind you will require some
evidence that you were the original creator like dates on the original drafts of the script.
• Copyright: As you see above you require evidence of your ownership of an IP
(Intellectual property) and that’s where copyright comes in. Copyright is essentially the
proof of ownership. If you create an IP independently you will own the copyright to that
IP, however if you create an IP at the behest of a corporation then they will own the
copyright.
9. References
• http://mytimeblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/don-corleone.jpg Godfather image. Slide 1.
• http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics Definition of Ethics. Slide 6
• http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/ Definition of Intellectual properties. Slide 8.
• http://www.independentproducerhandbook.co.uk/31/channel-4s-compliance-procedures/when-a-
programme-is-commissioned-or-purchased.html Slide 6.
• http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/code-of-practice.html Slide 6 Definition of codes of
practice.
