Contracts, Legal and Ethical.

Contracts

There are 2 different types of contracts; Employment Contracts and Project Contracts. The different between these two is that it you have an employment contract it means that you are a permanently employed by a company weather that be full time or part time, whereas if you are on a Project contract this is usually for a certain amount of time then you are out of a job.

In the media you will more than likely be hired on project contract, this is what freelancers are hired on. This contract means that the employer and employee can negotiate things like the length of the contract and the pay. Being able to negotiate with the employer allows you negotiate on the brief a little. Being on a project contract means that you will be giving a brief and a set amount of time to finish the project you are working on.

when working on a project that may ask you to sign an exclusivity contract, this is either saying that you will only work on this project, or that you are the only person working on it and the production company aren't going to give the contract to someone else. When an actor is working on a film they are often asked to sign these contracts, meaning there is no disruption or complications during filming with their movies overlapping. There also might be a confidentiality agreement in your contract, this is likely if you are working on something that is being filmed undercover. For example the panorama documentary 'North Korea Undercover' everyone working on this would have had to have signed a  confidentiality contract because if they had have been exposed they people involved may have been executed or imprisoned for it.


Employment Legislation

As an employer NCTV/MINE you have to make sure that you give everyone a chance regardless of there Gender, Race or Sexual Orientation. Employers are also not able to discriminate against someone for there age or if they have a disability. Employers also have to make sure that there employees are safe in there work environment, and make sure they know about the health and safety.

To make sure that employees are safe in there work environment company need to have Employers Liability Insurance. This is compulsory and it is illegal to not have this and is part of health and safety in the work place. Employers Liability Insurance covers a company if one of there employee's has an injury at work or picks up an illness from the work place. If a employee injures themselves the insurance company will cove the cost of the damages.

Its is illegal in the UK for an employer to discriminate against someone who applies for a job or who work for them. As an employer you cannot restrict an employee's pay or benefits regardless of their race, religious belief, sexual orientation etc. Every employee is protected by Equality Act 2010, therefore as an employer if one of your employees discriminates against another employee you have the right to dismiss them. When you hire an employee on to your company they then have a number of rights, Your employee receive the rights to; Protected Wages, Maternity Leave (Females), Redundancy pay and the right to not be dismiss unfairly.

When working for a company you can also join a trade union, this isn't compulsory but is a handy thing to be a part of. Trade unions take care of the employees rather then the companies themselves managers take care of the company. The Trade Union for the Media and entertainment sector in the UK is called BECTU they are the biggest trade union in UK for the media sector. Both permanent employers and freelancers can be part of BECTU. BECTU have their own Equality act to ensure everyone in the workplace is treated the same.

Legal and Ethical

When a program is broadcast the producers have to make sure it is ethically portrayed. When a show id broadcast and the people in it or are not ethically show this could mean when the idea of them appearing it has been changed. When this happens there is usually an uproar in the media, currently there is an issue with the broadcast of benefit street. When channel for pitched the idea to the show they told the 'starts' of the show they were making a documentary about community sprit, but now they have portrayed they as benefit scroungers and shown them committing crimes.

In 1990 the Broadcasting act was thought up, this is basically where BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) decide what is appropriate for TV and to be shown in films in the UK. The BBFC can only advise what is appropriate they don't have any legal power. They may not have any legal power but they are very well respected in the media. The BBFC managed to get 30 cuts to the Human 

Centipede so they it was considered appropriate to be in shown in cinemas in the UK. Even though it was shown in UK cinemas it was still rated 18. In 1959 The BBFC published the obscene Publications Act, which was later amended. In this act it is stated that no footage that is seen to be harmful towards animals or humans can't be shown. Having rules like this in place can help prevent things like copy cat murders similar to the ones that happened after the release of The Clock Work Orange which was later banned from UK cinemas for 27 years. This act is also enforced by OFCOM who goven all the TV and radio in the UK. OFCOM have more power that the BBFC, they are able to shut down a channel if they wanted too if they had the a reason to , they also deal with any complaints the viewers might have and have the authority to also issues to fines to channels.

When a company first starts out they will come up with some codes of practice, this a basically a list of rules that must be followed. This is to ensure every one gets a chance, on the bbc's committing site it states they must show an even amount of in house and out house productions. The full lists of their codes of practice can be found here http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/how-we-work/business-requirements/code-of-practice.shtml