The three obligations I am researching are:
·
Contractual means an employee
has a written or spoken agreement that is intended to be enforceable by law
signed to whoever they are working for.
·
Legal means you have a moral or
legal duty to perform and abide by the law.
·
Ethical means doing what is morally
right. For example, treating other employees fairly.
What types of contracts are there? There
are few and I will be explaining what each one means and consists of.
To start off you get fixed term contracts.
A fixed term contract is a contract of employment which has a start and an end
date. For the employee, when signing up to fixed contract they have to be
willing to work for the employer full time. In some cases employers can use the
fixed term contract to keep employees working on a project full time project,
when the project is done then the contract ends.
ISSUES WITH FIXED TERM CONTRACTS:
GERMANY
In 2013, issues where made clear in Germany
regarding fixed term contracts. Employers could only offer a fixed term
contract with an employee once. For companies this puts a lifetime limitation
on their recruitment operation. This had to be changed. Now, for the employer,
if the last relationship with an employee dates back more than three years,
they may enter into the fixed term contract.
What to learn from this?
Contracts must be worded very carefully. If
not there is a risk of entering into an unlimited employment relationship due
to an ineffective fixed term.
FREELANCE
If you was to hire a freelancer, it means
that they are self-employed or apart of other companies.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is the
protection of personal information. It means to keep a client’s information
between you and them, you cannot tell anyone including friends and family. An
example of maintaining confidentiality would be individually locking files and making
sure they are secured.
Issues with confidentiality
On November 24th
2014, a hacker group which identified themselves as the “Guardians of peace”
leaked a piece of confidential data from “Sony pictures” to the public. The
data included personal information about Sony’s employees, their families,
e-mails and information about executive salaries within the company.
This is an example of
confidential information that has been leaked to the public. Also this is an
example of confidential information that has not been locked and secured away
from any eye to see.
Within the cast and crew for
“Star Wars Force Awakens” the confidentially contracts are strict due to a
member of the cast leaking information about the film. The contract included 20
pages, a unique magnetic pass to enter to track everywhere they went and
getting tracked by security everywhere they went.
This is an example of
successfully maintaining confidential information however a member of the cast
broke the contract.
Exclusivity
This
is where the producer has not actually purchased the right to use the screenplay,
the producer has actually purchased the “Exclusive right” to purchase the
screenplay at some point in the future. The Exclusive right contains a deadline
for your film to produced, if you do not meet the deadline then you lose the
money for the exclusive right and your film does not get produced. The
exclusivity act prevents people from working with more than one party on a
project.
Issues
with exclusivity
Issues
in the past regarding exclusivity are directors producing the film whilst
pre-production has been completed but near the deadline they forget to film a
few specific scenes. The deadline has been not been met and because the
director has not completed the film it will not be produced, followed by the
loss of money for the exclusive right. All in all, if the director does not
meet the deadline, money and the film will be lost.
Employment
legislation
Employment
legislation includes all types of employment protection measures, whether
grounded primarily in legislation, court rulings, collectively bargained
conditions of employment or customary practice.
– (GOOGLE)
This is important
because it provides protection and job security for employees against
malpractices in the workplace. It covers things like unfairness of
employers
Health and safety: The regulations and procedures intended to
prevent accident or injury in workplaces or public environments.
Issues with health
and safety
Famous star wars
actor Harrison Ford was injured on set by a falling door from a spaceship that
his character Han Solo flies in the original star wars trilogy. This is an
example of health and safety gone wrong because if the correct procedures on
set were conducted, the door would not have fallen. It is very important to
conduct health and safety procedures in film because if your actor get injured,
you may find it hard to meet deadlines when filming.
Equal opportunities
Equal
opportunities involves people being treated equally and having the ability to
choose opportunities. The equality act was introduced in 2010. The act brought
together over 116 separate pieces of legalisation into one single act. The act
simplifies, strengthens and harmonises the current legislation to provide
Britain with a new discrimination law which protects individuals form unfair
treatment and promotes a fairer and equal society
This
is important because in film, it is essential that the cast and crew are
treated fairly and respectfully to form the most effective workforce. If they
are not treated fairly, they will have less motivation which will decrease the
quality of performance.
Issues regarding equal opportunities
There was an issue last year regarding the
discrimination against female directors. It was argued that 7 percent of the
directors in Hollywood are women, in fact the percentage has decreased since
1998. The EEOG (equal employments) took this into consideration and
investigated the case. Their actions may lead to equal employment and hopefully
more films will be made in the perspective of women.
Employment equality
age regulations 2006
It
is not acceptable to discriminate, harass or victimise job applicants,
employees or trainees on the ground of age (Young or old). This means that if
you are applying for a job and you fit the job description, it would be
unethical and unlawful for the employer to not employee because you are either
too old or too young.
Direct
discrimination occurs where the employer treats a job applicant/ employee/
trainee less favourably than he treats or would treat people unless he can
objectively justify that treatment. This can include discrimination based on a
person’s age however the age is suitable for the job.
In
TV, older people are more likely to be exploited for the purposes of humour
rather than people of a young age.
Issues relating age
According
to Forbes online, it has become apparent that women of an old age do not get
the parts even though the characters age is near the same age as them. The
truth is, filmmakers believe characters are more appealing when they are
younger. This an example of age discrimination because although a women may be
suitable for the role, if someone younger comes along the role will go to them.
Employer’s liability
Employer’s
liability ensures that you have at least a minimum level of insurance cover
against any such claims. Employer’s liability insurance will enable you to meet
the cost of compensation for your employees’ injuries or illness whether they
are caused on or off site. It exists because it provides people will back up if
they anything bad happens to them.
For
example, you are in the lighting business within film. You are on the job and
it is a normal day at the set. You are setting up the lights as normal, when
suddenly you receive an electric shock putting up one of the lights and fall
off the ladder, only to break a bone. Your employer’s liability means that you
will be compensated for this accident and will receive time off. If you did not
have liability insurance then in this case, you would be taken to the hospital
and would have to pay for treatment yourself.
Employee rights
Employee
rights are rights in the form of an agreement given to employees setting the
minimum rights they obligated. Employee rights are important for employees
because it protects them from unsafe or unhealthy working conditions. Various
laws exist to prevent the risk of accidental injury, death or disease within
the workplace.
Issues
relating employee rights
Netflix
hits back at Fox in lawsuit, they claim the studios bully’s employees into
contracts. Fox have been using unnecessary fixed term contracts on their
employees and saying to them you can either take it or leave it. This is a
breach of employee rights because they should have a choice of what they want
to do.
Trade unions
A
trade union is an organisation with members who are usually workers or
employees. It looks after their interests at work by doing things like
negotiating agreements with employers in pay and conditions, discussing members
concerns with employers and going with members to disciplinary and grievance
meetings.
Why
should you join a trade union? Well it is a proven fact
that on average, workers in companies with a recognised union earn 10 per cent
more than a comparable non-unionised workplace. Having a strong voice in your
workplace is important to ensure that you can make a difference.
As a Unite member, you will always be
consulted and your views are always valued, particularly during negotiations
with employers. Unite negotiators are always trained in getting the best deal
on your behalf.
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is refers to creations
of the mind, inventions, symbols, names and images used in commerce. IP is what
protects all aspects of the film in terms of
Issues relating intellectual property
In the film Star Wars, there was an issue
with the name of the robots “droids”. A company called Lucasfilm registered the
trademark “droid” in 2009. As a result of this, the Star Wars Company have to
pay Lucasfilm in order to use their trademark. IP protects films very well but
sometimes can become a problem if your film is similar to ones that have IP.
Copyright
Copyright is legal right that protects the
use of your work once your idea has been physically expressed. For work to be
protected by copyright is must be two things, original and tangible.
For work to be original it must be a product
of your own skill and labour, it should not replicate someone else’s work.
Tangible means that you cannot have copyright for an idea in your head or you
could not say I thought of that first because there is no proof that you did.
The idea must be physically expressed in order to be protected by copy right.
Copy right is essential because without it,
people within the TV and Film industry could copy story lines and ideas for
films or TV shows. Imagine creating and airing your new TV show that was
different from anybody else and someone the following week announces they will
be creating a TV show that is nearly identical to yours. This would happen if
copyright did not exist.
Issues relating copyright
A producer behind “The Walking Dead is suing
a company that is building production facilities using a similar name,
according to a complaint filed recently in Georgia federal court.
Trademarks
A trade mark is a sign that you can use to
differentiate your businesses goods or services from other traders. A trademark
can be represented graphically in the form of a logo or a company signature. An
example of this would be the website “YouTube”. If you are using any type or
form of the YouTube logo it must link back to YouTube content or a component of
that application.
You can never include the icon or the name
YouTube in your application or material. They have full protection over
copyright and is a trademark that the world recognises.
Issues with trademarks
The Walking Dead production company brings
trademark suit against Atlanta-area movie studio.
This is the misrepresentation made by one party which damages the goodwill of another party. In most cases this will be achieved by one party passing off another party's goods or services as those of their own.
In other words this is when someones tries to copy what you do and pass it off as their own. For example, in film if a group or team made a film... it would be like if someone else tried to copy the film and then advertise it as their own.
Ethical codes of practice
This is the understanding of what is right and wrong within a party. It is important that members of a party are familiar with the ethical codes of practice because it involves making the right decisions and treating other members of the party correct.
The code on conduct for employees basically states how they can behave in an ethical manor and employees have to stick to it. Especially in film and TV, you cannot have people who do not understand what is ethically right because they will damage the image of the organisation.
Issues related to ethical codes of practice
The TV show "Family guy" was shutdown in 2001 whilst the third series was being made because their content was offensive to viewers. In this case, the people creating the show did not take into consideration what was ethically right and released content that would later offend the audience. The show was later up and running again by 2005.
Policies and procedures
The BBC is managed and run according to a set of policies and guidelines created by official bodies such as Ofcom, BBC Trust and Fair trading. These policies help the BBC maintain the public purposes they set out each year outlining what they will achieve in line with their missions and values.
Examples of policies
Advertising: One of the policies that the BBC have is an advertising policy. This consists of the BBC not being able to carry advertising or sponsorship on its public services. In other words, they are not allowed to advertise on their channel. This means that the BBC stay independant from commercial interests and ensures that they purely run to serve the general public interest.
Environment: Another policy that the BBC have is reducing the environmental impact. This means that they have a variety of objectives to monitor and reduce environmental impact.
Child protection policy: The BBC work with the younger generation to inform, educate and provide suitable entertainment. Due to working with children, anyone at the BBC who works with them must be familiar with the child protection policy. An example of what the child protection policy consists of would be the working hours of a child. A child can only work up to five hours on weekdays.
In film and TV is crucial that an organisation sticks to the policies and procedures that they create because it gives them boundaries of how to make everything run as smoothly as possible. They would not be made for no reason.
Emerging social concerns and expectations
This is when concerns and expectations get highlighted and are made clear. For example, you are in filming for a TV show that is airing in a month. Their is a specific scene that you think could be done better or you feel like the scene will damage the reputation of the TV show, if you gain thoughts such as these they should be made clear.
Everyone who is a member of a film organisation or a TV show should feel like they can input their opinions, concerns or expectations without being judged or offended.
Also it is important in the creative industry for the manager or whoever is in charge to make the expectations clear. Having expectations gives the employees goals to achieve, furthermore making them motivated to achieve them.
Issues related to social concerns
Newton Minow, who was the former chair of the federal communications created a speech referring to television as a "vast wasteland". Since then the media debated whether television has any social value. Television since then has become way more informative and educational.
This is an example of a social concern emerging and as a result benefiting the media industry.
Representation
This is the representation of individuals, groups, religions and issues. In film, it is important that all types of people are accepted within the community. For example, no matter what race you are, if you have the qualities to enter TV and film you should be accepted.
The BBC are an example of good representation within television. BBC's audience can rely on them to reflect the many communities that exist in the UK. These communities may be based on geography, faith, language or a shared interest in sport. The BBC helps to stimulate debate within and between communities and encourages people to get involved with their local communities.
Ethnical related issue
Statistics show that latinos are most under-represented in films, 75% of blockbuster crews were male and 74% of the total characters across six years of film were white.
No matter what race or country you are from, if you have the qualities that a film is looking for you should be accepted.
Race relations act 1976
Under the Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA) people are protected against discrimination on racial grounds. Racial grounds are defined as colour, race, nationality, or ethnic or national origins. It covers employment, education, housing, advertising, and the provision of goods and services. (google)
The obscene publications act 1959
This act covers material that if released to the media, it would cause offence to the audience. This act protects the public and protects the image of those who the material was of. This includes imagery such as sexually explicit, violent or drug related abuse. Broadcasters must abide by this law in order to not offend the public.
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