Fringe theatre and minimum wage

MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: Equity

Does Equity want to close fringe theatre by imposing the national minimum wage on every production? The Stage and The Guardian have reported that we might. We don’t and nor would we ever.

The Equity Council (the body of elected members who run the union) was asked by one of its members to consider lobbying the Government to make it illegal to advertise any job for less than the national minimum wage and to re-define unpaid work in fringe theatre as “amateur”. By an overwhelming majority the Equity Council decided not to back either idea for some very sound reasons.

Since 1999 the national minimum wage has applied to any individual defined as a ‘worker’. Does it apply to the fringe theatre? Well, the answer is: possibly. Some actors on the fringe clearly are workers and could make a claim under the national minimum wage, but what about actors in profit share? What about showcases? What if the theatre company is a charity? Whether the national minimum wage applies to work on the fringe depends on the details of each case. It is too simplistic to state that it either should or does apply under all circumstances.

But whatever the position, what should Equity’s role be? Equity campaigns tirelessly for the right and the opportunity for its members to make a living out of what they do. They love performance and dedicate their lives to it but they still need to pay the bills. Performance is their job, not their hobby.

Just this year we came to the end of a long and at times difficult campaign to get wages up in London’s West End. The result? Minimum fees went up by as much as 50 per cent. But fringe theatre is not the West End - no one becomes a millionaire by producing fringe theatre. But no matter how little cash there is in fringe theatre, producers are not exempted from the national minimum wage.

So who can challenge employers who are underpaying? The legislation gives rights to any individual to make a claim if they think they should have been paid the national minimum wage and were not. Unions do not have the same rights. We can support a claim made by a member but we cannot initiate one. Any member of Equity who has worked on the fringe, believes they should have been paid the national minimum wage and is willing to make a claim should come and talk to us. If we think the claim is winnable, we will take it on.

But we are doing more than that. For several years now Equity has been campaigning to encourage fringe producers to up their game and use Equity contacts. We can offer them a specially designed fringe contract that is based on the national minimum wage but also recognises the uncertain, cash-strapped and risky nature of fringe theatre.

We think that in the eyes of performers, fringe producers will appear to be more professional if they use proper contracts approved by Equity.

We know that some members choose to work on the fringe for less than the National Minimum Wage for their own professional reasons – it could be that they want to work in a particular new piece of work. They might want to work with a particular director. They might even, as many established actors do, find the fringe work they are asked to do edgier and more challenging than elsewhere in the theatre world. They are professional people making informed decisions. Equity is clear that doing such work does not make them amateurs as some have suggested.

Equity is a supporter of the fringe and wants it to thrive, but no one can ignore the implications of Government legislation on the national minimum wage.

At its meeting on 7 July, the Equity Counciol adopted a policy statement on fringe theatre and the national minimum wage.