Employment Legalisation andEmployee Rights

Health and safety policy:

The primary objective of the Channel 4 Health and safety policy, according to their website, is a commitment to take all measures, which are reasonably practicable, to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all persons at work and to protect visitors to Channel 4 premises against risks to their health and safety.

They also state that personnel with health and safety responsibilities are appointed and resources provided to implement health and safety for all and to ensure that Channel 4 complies with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and all other health and safety legislation.

Employees have a legal duty to act in a safe manner and not to endanger themselves or others by their actions. All health and safety procedures are communicated to staff and all staff are encouraged to play a positive role in developing and maintaining a healthy and safe working environment and to report health and safety issues to the health and safety team and management. Heads of Department and Managers are responsible for maintaining a safe working environment and establishing and practising safe methods of working.

When a person is employed by Channel 4, they need to be aware that firstly there is a health and safety policy and to make sure they know what is required of them in case of emergency, conversely employers must make sure their employees have access to the policy, to make sure people have it when needed. Health and Safety policies layout lines of responsibility and communication, as well as policies and procedures to be used in certain situations such as fire evacuation or the need for a risk assessment for a dangerous shooting location etc.

If I were working in the industry this information would be very important to learn, as I would understand exactly what to do in certain situations and also what other people, in different job positions would be obliged to do in those situations.

Equal opportunities:

Channel 4 as a broadcaster, have a remit to deliver diverse content to a variety of different demographics, it therefore makes absolute sense they employ a diverse team of people alongside their legal obligation to offer equal opportunities and not to discriminate.

Here is a quote from Channel 4’s Corporate responsibility page on the website;

‘Our belief is that diversity contributes to the fulfilment of our public service remit and to being the best that we can creatively be. We aim to nurture and develop talent within our business and across the media industry in order to work with the most diverse range of people across the UK.’

Channel 4 is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, ethnic origin,

disability, age or political or religious belief in its recruitment or other employment policies. Their figures continue to be monitored regularly on all aspects of diversity of employees. The representation of ethnic minorities amongst permanent staff in 2010 was 13%. Women continue to form the majority of staff at 57%.

Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006:

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 is a piece of secondary legislation in the United Kingdom, which prohibits employers unreasonably discriminating against employees on grounds of age. It came into force on October 1, 2006. It is now superseded by the Equality Act 2010.

The Regulations follow a very similar structure to existing legislation concerning sex, race, and religion. They provide a broad justification defence and a wide range of exceptions which have been criticised for undermining the concept of discrimination law by providing too many compromises on what would otherwise be unlawful.

However, a few years ago, a man named John McCrirck sued Channel 4 for age discrimination, after being let go at the age of 72. He had worked at Channel 4 for 30 years, which is a long career in the TV industry, but once sacked claimed it was age discrimination and then demanded £3 million in damages. However his case was dismissed on the fact that he had no evidence that there was age discrimination, and Channel 4 decision was justified, meaning that the Equal Opportunities policy works and is agreed upon by many.

http://www.doihaveacase.co.uk/racing-pundit-john-mccririck-sues-channel-4-for-age-discrimination/

Employer’s liability:

Employer’s liability insurance is compulsory by law if you employ anyone paid or unpaid, PAYE or labour. Employers Liability safe guards the employer in the event that an employee sustains accidental bodily injury and becomes legally liable to pay any compensation.

Channel 4 has a comprehensive employer’s liability insurance policy and also requires producers who work for Channel 4 on specific projects to have their own employer’s liability insurance. To this extent Channel 4 is not responsible for every person who works on a Channel 4 production just the ones it directly employs.

The scope of Employers liability is determined by what is considered to be within the normal course of business and it must either be authorized or be so connected to the business. Courts sometimes distinguish between an employee's "detour" vs. "frolic". For instance, an employer will be held liable if it is shown that the employee had gone on a mere detour in carrying out their duties, whereas an employee acting in his or her own right rather than on the employer's business is undertaking a "frolic" and will not subject the employer to liability.

Generally, an employer will not be held liable for assault or battery committed by employees, unless the use of force was part of their employment (such as a police officers), or they were in a field likely to create friction with persons they encountered (such as car re-possessors). However, the employer of an independent contractor is not held vicariously liable for the tortious acts of the contractor, unless

the contractor injures someone to whom the employer owes a non-delegable duty of care, as when the employer is a school authority and the injured party a pupil.

Employee Rights:

Employment legislation lays down the basic rights that all employees are entitled to such as national minimum wage, sick pay entitlement, maternity leave entitlement etc. Employees often create their own employee policies that outline someone’s right to these entitlements but Channel 4 like many companies has its own enhanced policies that gives its employees more than the statutory amounts in all these areas. In addition they have many policies that outline things like complaints procedures, internet usage rules or bullying policies.

Trade Unions:http://www.bectu.org.uk/home

BECTU is the UK's media and entertainment trade union; sectors covered include broadcasting, film, independent production, theatre and the arts, leisure and digital media. The union represents staff, contract and freelance workers who are based primarily in the United Kingdom.BECTU provides a wide range of services to its circa 25,000 members, including: Negotiating pay, conditions and contracts with employers Personal advice and representation for individual members Advice and representation on health and safety Benefits and services for BECTU members Training support and courses Networking events and career development opportunities Union journal, Stage Screen and Radio, published six times a year. Website designed to improve access to the union's advice and support. The union is financed entirely by individual subscriptions from members. The key aims of the union are to: - protect jobs - increase membership - win new recognition agreements - improve pay and conditions of service, including pensions.

Intellectual property/Trademark/Copyright:

Intellectual property (or IP) refers to creative work that can be treated as an asset or physical property. Intellectual property rights fall principally into four main areas; copyright, trademarks, design rights and patents.

A trademark can be a name, word, slogan, design, symbol or other unique device that identifies a product or organization. Trademarks are registered at a national or territory level with an appointed government body. Registered trademarks may be identified by the abbreviation ‘TM’, or the ‘®’ symbol.

Copyright applies to work that is recorded in some way; rights exist in items such as literary, artistic, musical and dramatic work as well as films, sound recordings and typographical arrangements. It gives the author specific rights in relation to the work, prohibits unauthorized actions, and allows the author to take legal action against instances of infringement or plagiarism.

Intellectual property creation, ownership and protection is a key foundation of the media sector. Copyrighted works like books need to be optioned so they can be adapted for television or film versions and original ideas, such as programme

formats e.g. X factor or Wife Swap need to be protected so producers can sell the idea into other territories to other broadcasters. Other broadcasters or producers will for example, buy a licence for a format so they have the right to make and show the programme.

Within programmes music or archive is also used and a broadcaster will always want to know that this material has been ‘cleared’ if it is somebody else’s intellectual property.