Search this site
Categories
- Bectu Agreements (15)
- Bullying and Harassment (25)
- Sexual harassment (12)
- Copyright & Intellectual Property (16)
- Personal data (4)
- Coronavirus (68)
- Culture policy (14)
- Economics (109)
- Employment (41)
- Environment & Sustainability (5)
- Housing costs (7)
- Inflation (34)
- Productivity (33)
- Employment Law and Rights (94)
- Employment Contracts (18)
- Employment intermediaries (14)
- Employment status (17)
- Family rights (10)
- Gig economy workers (33)
- Illness and disability (8)
- Migration & working abroad (7)
- Whistleblowing (4)
- Equality (71)
- Disability equality (14)
- Diversity of representation (20)
- Gender equality (19)
- Gender pay (11)
- Gender representation (17)
- Race equality (14)
- Wealth inequality (15)
- Equipment and kit (9)
- EU & Brexit (46)
- Film & TV industry data (106)
- Factual & Entertainment sector data (30)
- Feature film data (49)
- High End TV data (72)
- Low budget features (7)
- Skills & capacity (43)
- TV Advertising (4)
- Film & TV industry policy (148)
- Animation & VFX (3)
- BBC (32)
- Cinema exhibition (2)
- Copyright and piracy (1)
- Low budget productions (2)
- News programmes (1)
- Outside broadcast (2)
- Post-production (4)
- Public Service Broadcasting (63)
- Quotas (37)
- Regulation (48)
- Sports rights and broadcasting (2)
- SVoD (55)
- Tax incentives (33)
- UK studios (24)
- Freelance working (107)
- Freelancer rights (53)
- Personal Service Companies (20)
- Health & Safety (151)
- Child protection and safeguarding (3)
- Coronavirus (43)
- Hot weather working (2)
- Long hours (52)
- Mental Health (32)
- Occupational Health (3)
- Remote working (15)
- Safe working practices (45)
- Safe working standards (32)
- The working environment (8)
- Wellbeing (52)
- Work-life balance (43)
- Workplace conflict (25)
- Management (35)
- Organising Skills (19)
- Consultation skills (1)
- Game theory (3)
- Recruitment and organising (12)
- Ownership & Control (10)
- Pensions (19)
- Politics (12)
- Labour Party (5)
- The Conservative Party (4)
- Radio (1)
- Tax (71)
- ESM4118 (10)
- IR35 (42)
- Loan arrangements (3)
- National Insurance Contributions (NICs) (11)
- VAT (2)
- Theatre and Live Events data (38)
- Trades Unions (35)
- Uncategorized (7)
- Wages and Pay-rates (61)
- Low pay (40)
- Minimum wage rates (14)
- Pay & inflation (34)
- Welfare and benefits (33)
- CJRS & SEISS (9)
- Universal Credit (1)
- Workplaces (13)
Tags
- AMPTP
- Armoury
- Audiovisual Media Services
- Auto-enrolment
- BBC
- Bectu branch activity
- Bectu branch websites
- Brexit
- Channel 4
- Channel 4 privatisation
- Cinema/Theatrical release
- Coronavirus
- Cost of living
- CPI
- Cultural diversity
- Disability
- Disney
- Equity
- European Audiovisual Observatory
- Expenses
- Eyes Half Shut
- Flexible working
- France
- Holiday pay
- Hybrid working
- IATSE
- Inflation
- Investment Quotas
- IR35
- Long hours working
- Mandatory vaccination
- Netflix
- Ofcom
- Pensions
- Remote working
- RPI
- Self-employment
- SVOD
- The Freelance Deal
- Touring visas
- TUC
- UK Studio Watch
- Umbrella Companies
- Vaccination
- Working from home
-
Recent posts
- Why people risk insecure work
- Freelancers and the welfare system
- Sleep depravation and driving – blood test under development
- Film and TV drama healthcheck (plus a footnote about distribution ‘windows’ and cinemas).
- Meal expenses – update
- Bank Rate rises. Inflation rate stubborn.
- Flexible working, and work-from-home update
- Bectu Assistant Editors Toolkit published
- Improved guidance on managing health and safety and controlling risk
- Martyn’s Law
- Useful resources for working abroad
- The Broadcast Indie Survey 2023
- How to make flexible working work within the film and television industry
- TUC report on Long CoViD
- March Budget 2023 with added inflation catch-up.
- Unexpected rise in self-assessed tax receipts
- Four day week trial
- Theatre audience behaviour research
- ‘Don’t discuss your pay’ clauses
- The state of the UK film and TV economy
- “Emotional Tax” of being on guard against racial bias
- The “freelancers can’t be safety reps” thing that people keep saying.
- Theatre skills shortages at a ‘tipping point’
- What health records relating to employees can an employer hold?
- Two freelance tax developments to note
- Inflation update and the fall in real wages
- HSE annual statistical report
- The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill – unions concerns
- HSE guidance on work-related violence
- The use of weaponry on film sets
- Getting your own film exhibited
- Government response to Employment Status Review
- Freelancers and their parental rights
- IR35 is back (it never went away). What reforms are needed?
- ‘The Growth Plan’ seems to be on it’s knees. What does this mean for Bectu freelance members?
- Some useful resources when discussing the impact of long hours working
- Living Wage Foundation brings its annual announcement forward
- Earnings growth – private sector workers outpace the public sector
- UK independent productions, the inflation punch-in-the-mouth, and the very European remedies.
- Inflation update – August 2022 figures
About us
BECTU branch & member group websites
- Animation and VFX Branch
- Bectu Art Deparment branch
- Bectu London Production Division (LPD)
- Camera Branch
- Costume & Wardrobe
- Grips Branch
- Hair Makeup and Prosthetics Branch (LPD)
- JIGS – Joint Industry Grading Scheme (Riggers / SFX / Grips)
- Live Events Network
- Sound Branch
- Sparks Branch – Bectu Lighting Electricians
- The Rough Assembly – post production and facilities branch
- Theatre Freelancers Branch
Behaviours and mental health
Co-ops and employee ownership
Copyright and Intellectual Property
Coronavirus guidance
Economics
Employment Law
- ACAS – employment rights advice
- Brussels European Employee Relations Group
- Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
- Employment Statuses – .gov site
- HR News
- HR Review
- Labour and European Law Review – Thompsons
- LRD Publications
- Maternity Action
- Menopause in the workplace
- Personnel Today
- Taylor Review of modern working practices
- TUC blogs
Entertainment sector news
Environment and Sustainability
Equalities
- Autistic Self Advocacy Network
- Beacon Films
- BFI Press Reset – disability equality
- Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG)
- Living Income campaign (NEF)
- London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism
- Maternity Action
- Share My Telly Job
- Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity
- Sphinx Theatre
- The Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film
- UK Disability Arts Alliance
Federation of Entertainment Unions
Health & Safety
- Health & Safety Executive (HSE)
- Health and safety in the film, theatre and broadcasting industries (HSE pages)
- HSE Shared Research Programme
- Independent Sage
- JIGS – Joint Industry Grading Scheme (Riggers / SFX / Grips)
- Mark Milsome Foundation
- National Occupation Standards – Armoury
- Safety and Health Practitioner
Industry data
- Ampere Analysis
- BARB – British Audience Research Board
- BFI industry data
- BFI Statistical Yearbook
- Cinematographer's World
- Creative Industries Council
- Creative Industries Federation
- Creative Wales
- EU Audiovisual Observatory
- Film industry tax relief
- Institute for Screen Industries Research
- Internatioal Confederation of Arthouse Cinemas (CICAE)
- OLFFI – global database public funding programs and production incentives for film, TV
- Olsberg index of global audiovisual production incentives
- Raising Films
- Screen Industries Growth Network (Uni of York)
- Screenskills info & resources
- Standard Industrial Classification Codes (SIC codes)
- Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)
- Stephen Follows – Film Data and Education – blog
- The Time Project
- TV Watercooler
Industry employment agencies & intermediaries
Info & advice
Organising advice
Pensions and Investment
Self Employment
Tax and accounting
- Blue Skies Partnership – accountants – blog
- Contract Calculator
- Crunch – accounting advice
- Full list of IR35-related court case decisions
- HMRC tax avoidance campaign
- IPSE – IR35 in the private sector (guidance)
- Low Income Tax Reform Group
- Mark Groom – Deloitte
- Performance Accountancy – blog
- Tax Aid – low income tax advice charity
Think Tanks & thinking
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
- Autonomy
- Brave New Europe
- Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
- Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Nesta)
- Creative Workforce Pledge
- Dark Matter Labs
- Employee Benefits
- Engage Britain
- Federal Trust
- Institute for Employment Studies
- Law & Policy Blog
- LSE blogs
- Matthew Taylor blog
- Media Reform Coalition
- More in Common
- Next Wave Futures
- Oliver & Ohlbaum
- ONS Employment & Labour Market stats
- openDemocracy
- Persuasion
- Practical Ethics
- PWC Future of Work
- Resolution Foundation
- Royal Society of the Arts
- Social Market Foundation
- The Democratic Society
- The Good Corporation
- The Work Foundation
- UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity (UKCCD)
- Unchecked UK
- Will Davies
Trade Associations & Guilds
- AAPTLE – Alliance of Associations and Professionals in Theatre & Live Events
- Advertising Producers Assoc. (APA)
- Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (US)
- Animation UK
- Association of British Insurers
- Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT)
- British Film Commission (BFC)
- British Film Editors
- British Film Institute (BFI)
- Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
- Freelancers Make Theatre Work
- Incorporated Society of British Advertisers
- Incorporated Society of Musicians
- Independent Cinema Office
- Institute of Chartered Accountants (Eng & Wales)
- IPSE – The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed
- National Rigging Advisory Group
- Parents and Carers in Performing Arts
- Personal Managers Association
- Plaza – entertainment technology
- Royal Television Society (RTS)
- Screenskills
- Telly Mums Network (facebook group)
- The Alliance of Associations and Professionals in Theatre & Live Events
- The Production Guild
- Theatres Trust
- UK Crowd Management Association (UKCMA)
- UK Press Card Authority
- UK Screen Alliance
Training & development resources
Archive
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Inflation update and the fall in real wages | Bectu Freelance Research on Earnings growth – private sector workers outpace the public sector
- Paul Evans on Applying for a Lorimer Letter (LP10)
- George on Applying for a Lorimer Letter (LP10)
- Paul Evans on Travelling to work in the EU (updated)
- Davide on Travelling to work in the EU (updated)
Category Archives: Welfare and benefits
Why people risk insecure work
An interesting report from The Work Foundation (via Lancaster University) has just landed. Published in partnership with Unison, it looks at the choices and experiences of those in insecure work, and the kinds of interventions that could support them into … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Employment, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, Productivity, Welfare and benefits, Wellbeing
Tagged Unison, Work Foundation
Comments Off on Why people risk insecure work
Freelancers and the welfare system
This site has carried plenty of posts about freelancing and employment status, tax status, their pension status, and it probably needs a bit more on the generality of freelancing. We often debate whether ‘freelancer’ is even a thing. It doesn’t … Continue reading
Posted in Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Equipment and kit, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Management, Personal Service Companies, Productivity, Skills & capacity, Tax, Universal Credit, Welfare and benefits, Wellbeing, Work-life balance
Tagged Equity, Minimum Income Floor, Work Intensity
Comments Off on Freelancers and the welfare system
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill – unions concerns
I’m sure that you’ve picked up some commentary about “The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill”, which was introduced to Parliament on 22 September 2022. This is a key element of the UK Government’s post-Brexit agenda and affects a … Continue reading
Posted in Employment Contracts, Employment intermediaries, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Equality, EU & Brexit, Freelancer rights, Gender equality, Gender pay, Gig economy workers, Health & Safety, Illness and disability, Long hours, Safe working practices, Safe working standards, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Agency Workers, Brexit, Data Protection, EU, Holiday pay, Redundancy, TUPE, Working time regulations
Leave a comment
Government response to Employment Status Review
The government has now responded to the results of their 2018 consultation on Employment Statuses. (The full response can be seen in this document – pdf). The Tl;dr version of it is (paraphrasing very liberally) “people who don’t like the … Continue reading
Freelancers and their parental rights
I’ve had a request to write a briefing on UK parental rights for freelancers on my to-do list for a while, so I was very pleased to discover the website of Maternity Action which seems to answer most of the … Continue reading
Irish basic income for arts workers – update
I’ve already posted a couple of times about the plan to pilot a sectoral Basic Income for arts workers in Ireland. Today I attended a TUC seminar on this with Karan O Loughlin from SIPTU (the Irish union that covers … Continue reading
Posted in Freelance working, Low pay, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Basic Income, Ireland
Leave a comment
Ireland ‘Universal Basic Income for artists’ update
As mentioned here previously, the Irish government is toying with the idea of offering a Universal Basic Income for artists and arts sector workers [£] to help even out the bumpy income that comes with freelancing. More details are emerging … Continue reading
Posted in Freelance working, Low pay, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Basic Income, Ireland
Leave a comment
Useful bookmarks on freelance employment and tax policies
Here’s something written by Alan Lockey for Demos – “Free Radicals – Britain’s self-employed millions urgently need a new deal…” [pdf], and an IPSE’s 2017 ‘tax manifesto’ paper on “A Fairer, More Efficient Tax System” [pdf] (h/t Martin McIvor)
How inflation is affecting individual households
Further to the previous post on the cost of living, Bectu reps may wish to circulate this Office for National Statistics (ONS) page on how to calculate your personal cost-of-living changes.
Getting the current cost-of-living crisis in perspective
How can we understand the current cost of living crisis in perspective when talking to Bectu members about their wages? One way would be to look at it over a few years. In the past few days, coincidentally, I’ve had … Continue reading
EntitledTo – understanding benefits entitlements
The EntitledTo website is worth bookmarking. It aims to offer reliable estimates of benefit entitlements for individuals based on the detailed knowledge that they claim to have of the UK’s social security system. The site has some useful benefits calculators … Continue reading
Posted in Pensions, Wages and Pay-rates, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Benefits, Entitledto
Leave a comment
Knowing how much retirement income you need
Bectu is going to keep nagging freelance members to get a pension because freelancers in the UK generally have shockingly underfunded retirements. There are lots of other posts on this site about pensions if you want to read into this. … Continue reading
Posted in Freelance working, Low pay, Pensions, Wages and Pay-rates, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Picture Your Future
Leave a comment
“… the self-employed remain something of an inconvenient afterthought”
There’s a useful post here from Paul Johnson of the Institute of Fiscal Studies highlighting a number of factors that leads to the conclusion that our ecoomy and employment / tax / benefits framework has been designed around an economy … Continue reading
Posted in CJRS & SEISS, Coronavirus, Economics, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, Management, Personal Service Companies, Productivity, Welfare and benefits
Tagged IFS, Pensions, Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), The Freelance Deal
Leave a comment
Universal Credit and self-employed earnings
The minimum income floor was reintroduced from August 2021, having been suspended soon after the start of the lockdown in April 2020. Broadly, the Work Allowance and taper rate are the same as for employed people. However, a ‘Minimum Income … Continue reading
Calculating freelance income for the purposes of Universal Credit
All of the basic info about this is fairly easy to find on the .gov website – this is a good place to start. The key thing to remember is that, when you are self-employed, the government tends to think … Continue reading
Posted in Low pay, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Citizens Advice, Self-employment, Universal Credit
Leave a comment
13,000 SEISS and CJRS investigations launched (so far)
Looking through my back-issues of Farmer’s Weekly, there was a claim that… “…HMRC was allocated £100m of funding in the last Budget for investigations and the recouping of a suspected £3.5bn in fraudulent Covid-19 support scheme claims.” In late June, … Continue reading
Class based exclusion in the creative sector
In a huge wake-up call for the creative sector, the (NESTA) Creative Industries Policy and Research Centre have published a damning report on class-based exclusion. The UK’s #CreativeIndustries would need to employ 250,000 more working-class people to be as socio … Continue reading
Particularly low pensions and savings levels among self-employed workers
I try to avoid hyperbole on this blog, but the IFS report on ‘Retirement saving of the self-employed‘ makes for shocking reading. As per the intro summary… “The proportion of self-employed workers contributing to a private pension has been steadily … Continue reading
MPs call for Pension ‘sidecar’ to help workers with no/low cash reserves
This is not news (it’s dated April 2021), but something that Prospect’s pensions specialist Stewart Mott has pointed me at. Broadly, it’s a proposal for a new ‘sidecar’ savings mechanism within pension auto-enrolment to encourage employees to build up emergency … Continue reading
Posted in Gig economy workers, Low pay, Pensions, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Nest, Pensions, Sidecar pension
Leave a comment
Housing issues – where to get help
This is the best round-up of help available to people with housing issues that I’ve found recently….
Posted in Welfare and benefits
Tagged Homelessness, Housing costs, Housing market, Housing rents
Leave a comment
The Freelance Deal: 1. Employment Rights, Tax and Pensions
This is the first draft of the policy document that has been agreed by the Tax, Employment Rights and Pensions Working Group of London Production Division (LPD) on the 7th May 2020. It is a contribution to Bectu’s proposed ‘New … Continue reading
Posted in Employment Contracts, Employment Law and Rights, Employment status, Freelance working, Freelancer rights, Gig economy workers, IR35, Long hours, Management, Pensions, Personal Service Companies, Skills & capacity, Tax, Welfare and benefits, Wellbeing, Work-life balance
Tagged The Freelance Deal
Leave a comment
Useful correction on welfare entitlements for people who are self-isolating
At #PMQs, Boris Johnson suggested that everybody who's isolating due to Covid is entitled to the equivalent of living wage while they isolate. This isn't true. What they are entitled to 👇https://t.co/wsnSjvzqYg — Full Fact (@FullFact) July 22, 2021
Posted in CJRS & SEISS, Coronavirus, Freelance working, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Self-isolation
Leave a comment
TUC insecure work report
The TUC have published a special edition of their Jobs and Recovery monitor,and this time it’s focussed on Insecure Work [PDF]. From the exec summary… The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the reality of insecure work in the UK. Care workers, … Continue reading
‘Work from home’ tax relief
Employees who have worked from home during the pandemic but are now returning to offices can still claim tax relief on household expenses for this tax year. HMRC is actually pushing information out about this, specifically targeting people who worked … Continue reading
Posted in Coronavirus, Tax, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Hybrid working, Remote working, Working from home
Leave a comment
SEISS update – 5th tranche announced.
The Treasury have just published details of the 5th and SEISS grant. Details here [pdf]. The more concise public information page on this is here. The eligibility for this is the same as the eligibility for the fourth grant (as … Continue reading
Statutory Sick Pay and freelance working
For the purposes of this post, I’m taking the term ‘freelance’ in its broadest form. Many people who are on either short fixed-term contracts, or non-permanent PAYE contracts tend to regard themselves as ‘freelancers’. People who are ‘self-employed’ have few … Continue reading
What the Wilson era can teach us.
Welcome to an era when a stronger welfare state was seen as a pre-condition for economic dynamism. When a robust social infrastructure helped workers take risk. New piece by me on why Harold Wilson’s forgotten agenda is relevant to the … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Employment, Labour Party, Low pay, Management, Politics, Productivity, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Harold Wilson, Resolution Foundation
Leave a comment
TUC calls for furlough to be extended to match lockdown extensions
Frances O’Grady: “Government must delay asking businesses to make contributions to the furlough scheme in July and extend the scheme as long as needed.”
Low-paid most likely to be unemployed when furlough ends.
Low-paid workers face the highest risk of losing their jobs when the UK government’s furlough scheme ends in September, according to analysis by the Resolution Foundation.
Posted in CJRS & SEISS, Coronavirus, Employment, Wealth inequality
Tagged Furlough, Unemployment
Leave a comment
Inequalities rise – ONS
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that, to the financial year ending 2020, after taxes and benefits income, household income has continued on a general trend for rising income inequality in recent years.
Posted in Economics, Equality, Low pay, Pay & inflation, Welfare and benefits
Tagged Class inequality, Household incomes, Inequality
Leave a comment
Relative poverty among working households
Poverty rate among working households in UK is highest ever. IPPR thinktank blames higher rents, rising property prices and childcare costs for relative poverty reaching 17.4%.
Self-employed income support scheme – what kind of losses count?
As the Covid-19 lockdown eases, there are still Bectu members who are claiming support under the fourth grant of the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS). This can be claimed when… “…you reasonably believe there will be a significant reduction … Continue reading
Posted in CJRS & SEISS, Coronavirus
Tagged Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)
Leave a comment
A post-covid rethink of the welfare state?
The Resolution Foundation has called for a post-covid rethink of the welfare state. The report is here [pdf] Mike Brewer, Chief Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: