Bectu makes progress on eliminating broken turnaround by signing joint statement with Pact
Bectu has made an important step forward in its campaign to eliminate ‘broken turnaround’ in film and TV by signing a joint statement with the Producers’ Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact).
Pact has pledged to try to eliminate broken turnaround in scripted and unscripted productions. The statement notes the importance of good planning and management to achieve this, and that “all in positions of responsibility” can contribute to eliminating the practice.
A worker is considered to have ‘broken turnaround’ when they are required by their employer to return to work within less than 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period. This is in breach of workplace rights set out in Regulation 10 of The Working Time Regulations 1998. The joint statement is as follows:
All workers are entitled to receive an 11-hour break between finishing work and starting again (known as an 11-hour turnaround).
On scripted productions, our agreement recognises that this may not always be possible and provides for producers to give the time back or pay a penalty. Although under the 2023 agreement there has been a significant reduction in crew breaking turnaround, both Pact and Bectu would like to see it eliminated altogether.
Good planning and management can eliminate or reduce broken turnaround. This is something which all in positions of responsibility can work together to achieve, from line producers to heads of department.
For these reasons, Pact and Bectu have pledged to try and eliminate broken turnaround in scripted and unscripted productions. Pact and Bectu had a constructive first meeting about this topic on the 3rd of June 2025 and discussed setting strict boundaries on the use of broken turnaround to enable crew to maintain a healthier work/life balance. A further meeting is provisionally scheduled for late July and both parties have invited BBC Studios, ITV and the PMA to join the roundtable discussion.
Commenting, Bectu National Secretary Spencer Macdonald said:
“It’s no secret that long working long hours and irregular shifts are all too common in film and TV.
“This is not only a critical health and safety issue – the impact on film and TV workers’ wellbeing and personal lives is huge. Extreme fatigue, missed family time, severe mental health struggles, accidents and near misses are all commonplace.
“We know that breaking turnaround is still widespread, and many workers avoid pushing back for fear of being replaced. There is often real pressure to simply accept broken turnaround as part of the job.
“Now, we are saying enough is enough. With many productions picking up again, we need everyone who’s being asked to break their turnaround to report it to Bectu so we can better understand the scale of the problem and tackle it.
“It’s fantastic to have Pact’s commitment to try and eliminate broken turnaround in both scripted and unscripted productions.
“We hope this will also help progress discussions on agreed terms and conditions for unscripted freelancers, who continue to battle unsustainable working hours, insecure employment and a lack of work/life balance.”
Have you been asked to break turnaround?
Report it to Bectu using our quick form.
You can also download our ‘Understanding your rights’ document to help you know what your options are if you’ve been asked to break turnaround.