The Stage

Minimum wage and 40hr week in first Equity fringe contract

Published Tuesday 23 August 2005 at 16:20 by Nuala Calvi

Equity’s first ever contract for fringe theatre, launched this week, will require managements to spend half their income on staff salaries, pay the national minimum wage and guarantee a maximum 40-hour week for performers and creative teams.

The document, which was unveiled at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, also insists companies put all their profits towards wages until the minimum rate of £4.85 an hour for adults over 21 is met.

Many managements were sceptical, however, about the union’s chances of persuading the sector to accept a uniform contract.

Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Paul Gudgin said: “We will look with interest at what Equity are trying to do with the contracts for fringe venues in general. But whenever we have looked at these issues in the past, we have never felt there’s ever been any performers or venues who want to produce a standard contract.”

John Plews, artistic director of London fringe venue Upstairs at the Gatehouse, who is currently producing a show in Edinburgh, called the contract a good starting point. However, he said many elements were impractical and would be impossible to implement.

“The nature of the fringe means that you don’t have a huge crew setting up your stage and if at midnight you haven’t put it up, no one’s going to say they’re not going to carry on because they won’t have a show the next day,” he said.

“There’s very little chance of anyone being paid the minimum wage because if you’ve got a theatre which holds 50 seats, even if you sold out every night, there is no way you could pay everyone. In subsidised fringe it may be different but until Equity can organise for every fringe theatre to be subsidised, there’s no way.”

Christine Payne, assistant general secretary for theatre and variety at Equity, said the union recognised the contract could not be used by all fringe theatre companies and that exceptions would have to be made to the 40-hour rule. She told The Stage: “We know not everybody is going to be able to use it, that goes without saying. But the national minimum wage is the lowest a trade union can legally go, so that is where we have to start. If a company can afford to pay the minimum wage, then they can sign up to our agreement. It may be that some companies will take time to get to that place but hopefully they will still make contact with us.

The contract also requires theatre companies to keep an open financial book, all company members and stage management to be paid an equal amount and a working day to be no more than ten hours, including meal breaks. Companies will have to draw up health and safety policies but in return will get employer liability cover through the union.