Bectu members agree to variations to SOLT agreement

Bectu members working in London’s commercial West End theatres have voted by 86.2% to accept temporary variations to the SOLT Bectu agreement.

The variations were put to members after many weeks of negotiations that have now been
agreed to facilitate the reopening of West End theatres to the public. The agreement is effective from 24 September 2020 and will be subject to review every four months from January 2022.

The variations will be subject to a review mechanism starting in January 2022 which is based on box office takings compared to the same period of 2019 box office takings. Once these are matched or exceeded then all the temporary variations will start to fall away (excluding Sunday working).

Bectu assistant national secretary Helen Ryan said: “Under normal circumstances Bectu would not be have considered such changes to the agreement. However, these are not normal circumstances and we believe that members will understand that some temporary variations are going to be necessary in order to help the West End get back on its feet.

“This agreement represents a compromise in recognition of the existential crisis the theatre industry is facing as a result of the pandemic. Continued close communication will be vital as reviewing this agreement will be a priority as the industry returns to work. Looking forward our focus will be on modernising the agreement, addressing the long hours culture including the long workdays and six day weeks. We will also need to review basic wages and move away from the reliance on premium payments and overtime in order to achieve a decent living wage.

“We have doubled our membership across the West End in the last few months, we have tripled the number of new reps stepping up to defend terms and conditions across buildings and productions and we are putting in place plans to get our members tightly organised for when theatres re-open. The employers may have a vision for the review of the agreement but so do our members – and Bectu will make sure they are heard.”

A copy of the temporary variation agreement can be downloaded but in summary these are the key changes:

LAY-OFF CLAUSE – the statutory lay off clause will apply but limited it to apply only to Covid-19 or any other similar virus or epidemic or pandemic as determined by any public body.

 PAY FREEZE – on all minimum rates subject to the review mechanism from January 2022.

 SHORT-TIME WORKING – Shows are likely to reopen with shorter show weeks, at least initially as the public regains the confidence to travel on public transport, sit together in theatres etc. Irrespective of how few performances are scheduled, nobody will be paid pro-rata for less than 5 shows in any one week. Employers have every intention of going back up to 8 shows or more a week as soon as possible.

 OVERTIME – all overtime terms remain the same except in instances where a call is extended for Covid-19 related reasons. Any calls scheduled to last longer for Covid-19 health and safety measures will be paid at single time (and will not count towards weekly hours when calculating overtime) and if staff are called early for a Covid-19 test or their call is extended due to an emergency on the day, there would be no payment for the first 30 minutes or part thereof, subject in any event to a maximum of 30 minutes in any single call.

 TV PREMIUMS – to be negotiated at local level for the duration of the ‘temporary variations’.

 SPECIAL TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS – the 9-for-8 bonuses for Performance Staff will continue to be paid if the bonus agreement is already in place on an existing production or if it is agreed locally on a new production. Should there be less than 8 performances in a week under the short term working provision, then the performance staff would receive 1 extra show compared to what they have actually worked i.e. if there are only 6 performances a week, the performance staff would be paid for 7-for-6 in this instance, provided they have worked all 6 shows

 All other bonuses are waived.

 SUNDAY WORKING –Sunday is to be treated as part of the normal working week in all respects (excluding Sunday Concerts), and with no opt out until the end of January 2022 – other than where a show opens after 1 February 2021, where a period of up to 12 months (52 weeks) from the first performance in a venue will apply, but in any event, this period will end no later than and including Sunday 3 April 2022.

At the end of January 2022 or the end of the 12-month (52 week) period (being no later than 3 April 2022), the Sunday payment will be 0.5T on top with no opt out until the end of June 2023. Further arrangements will be negotiated commencing in Autumn 2022 with a view to implementation from 1 July 2023 onwards.

Get-ins and get-outs on Sundays will be paid at 1.5T in normal hours (9am – 11.30pm) and 2T for hours outside of normal working time. Get-outs on any other day during normal working time will be paid at single time and current applicable rates apply where they occur outside normal working hours.

 TEMPORARY VARIATIONS – Whilst the variations are not permanent, equally there are no pre-determined outcomes following the end of the Covid-19 Variation Agreement. There will be negotiations on the whole agreement commencing Autumn 2022 with a view to implementation in June 2023. If by end of June 2023 there is no agreement on the Sunday working provisions, then SOLT and Bectu will agree to refer the issue to ACAS conciliation.