Working Patterns

Justin Bairamain

Fixed-term Contracts

Justin Bairamain is a director in the BBC, he works under a fixed-term contract.  Some employees working within the TV and film industry may work irregular patterns which means their working time is not fixed and they can work for a different amount of hours on different days, they don't have a exact schedule or timetable of hours they work on each day. They can also work over time, when a person does overtime they get paid extra on top of their normal wage for working over or working unsociable hours.They can be working from early morning until afternoon, or late afternoon till late evening or throughout the night. A director would have irregular patterns during their work, they could be working from early morning till late afternoon or late afternoon till late evening or throughout the night, their hours will vary. Some employees working within the TV and film industry may work irregular patterns which means their working time is not fixed and they can work for a different amount of hours on different days, they don't have a exact schedule or timetable of hours they work on each day. They can also work over time, when a person does overtime they get paid extra on top of their normal wage for working over or working unsociable hours.They can be working from early morning until afternoon, or late afternoon till late evening or throughout the night.

Irregular Patterns

Irregular patterns are very much different to fixed - term contracts, where the employee is working without a particular schedule or timetable of when to work. It is more of you being called into work rather than coming in on a regular basis. For instance, a make-up artist for a production company will not be needed 24/7 as their work does not take more than a few hours and isn't needed every time. They will be called in to get the make-up done for the actors on the production and once they have finished, their presence will no longer be needed. Therefore, this means that their income from the work will also vary depending on the amount of hours/ days they've worked, as they are flexible the company may pay them more than someone who is a freelancer for example. There is also the issue of the production team filming in different locations, which means that the worker will need to travel to those locations and this obviously means that it will be costly for them, so the media company may choose to pay them for the journey or pay for the journey for them. 

Freelance

Simon Elsbury

A freelance worker is someone who is self-employed, they will be responsible for their own arrangements in terms of pension, holiday, sick pay and other allowances. In the TV and film industry a freelance worker such as make-up artist, designer and screenwriter sell their work or service by the hours, days, job rather than working on a regular salary basis, TV or film productions would hire freelance workers for a short period of time. Freelance workers would have a start and finish date and the contract would automatically end when their task has been done. A cameraman would be a freelance worker, they would be hired for a certain amount of time and then when they have done their job, they would find other production to work on. The hours they work would vary depending on the productions and their needs for the job, they may have been working in the early morning before filming begins or work in the evenings for live TV. 

An example of a freelance worker is Simon Elsbury who works as a self-employed cameraman.

http://www.simonelsbury.com/