Katie Doyle, Girl About Town

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007 - 7:10 p.m.

So, a month or 2 ago, I filled out a survey of reality tv story people (writers, assistant writers - aka story editors, story producers, and the assistants thereof) that arrived in my email box via the Writers Guild. Today, the results of that survey were published. I wish I could say the facts are exaggerated, but sadly, they are not. Which is one reason I thought a job in a bookstore would make a nice change of pace. I added comments in italics after the individual subject findings. The reason the rest of you guys should care about this is that the practice is spreading. I have a friend who works in another industry altogether which has embraced this same practice wholeheartedly. It sets precedent, people. Remember that little overtime bill Bush signed a few years ago? Hello. That helps pave the way for this kind of abuse. Do you want your own workday to jump to a 10-12 hour day? No? Then it's time to start caring when stuff like this happens to other people.

From the WGAW:

Harsh Reality:
Study Exposes Widespread Wage and Hour Violations in Reality TV

LOS ANGELES -- Nearly all reality television writers are misclassified as exempt employees and they overwhelmingly work long hours without receiving overtime pay, health insurance, and other benefits, according to a new study commissioned by the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW).

Entitled �Harsh Reality - Working Conditions for Reality TV Writers,� the study finds that reality television producers routinely violate California wage and hour laws by denying overtime and meal breaks, and failing to maintain accurate records for the writers who work on their shows.

Coming just weeks after the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) ruled that a reality TV story producer was improperly classified as an exempt employee and should have been paid overtime, the results of the study �indicate that the total overtime liability for employers could reach almost $100 million. Such liability is likely to be the shared responsibility of multiple entities - production companies, networks and payroll companies - which may be deemed to be 'joint employers' under applicable wage and hour standards.�

According to the study, �most reality TV writers do not meet the requirements of the salary or job duty tests to be classified as exempt salaried employees and should be instead classified as non-exempt hourly employees entitled to overtime pay.�

Conducted by the independent firm Goodwin Simon Victoria Research, the survey of over 300 reality TV writers found that reality production companies and payroll companies routinely and improperly classified writers as exempt from state and federal overtime pay requirements, depriving them of at least $30 million a year in lost income. "Both the solid response rate for the survey, and the consistency of the results, suggest that the survey findings reflect the pervasive conditions under which reality TV is written: long hours, low pay, no benefits," said principal researcher Paul Goodwin.

�This study calls attention to some of the most disturbing information about entertainment industry employments practices I've ever seen,� commented WGAW President Patric M. Verrone. �It clearly demonstrates the gigantic problems in reality TV production and the magnitude of the liability faced by the companies. The WGAW is committed to changing the working conditions in reality TV.�

Key findings of the study include:

OVERTIME
* 91% of reality TV writers receive no overtime pay.
* 88% of reality TV writers work more than 40 hours per week.
* On average, writers worked 16 hours of unpaid overtime per week, with most writers reporting working 50 to 70 hours per week.

accepted work schedule is at least a 10 hour day, 5 days a week. your contract (aka deal memo) says your pay is based on a work week that totals at least 52 hours - and generally runs 60.

BENEFITS
* 86% of reality TV writers were not offered health insurance by their employer.
* Only 5% of reality TV writers were offered a 401K package - and only 1% offered a pension plan.

i'm actually shocked 14% of employees actually get offered health insurance. in 7 years, i was offered it at exactly 2 jobs, for a total work time of about 3.5 months...of course, by the time you're eligible for said health insurance, the job is either already over or will be over in another month, which means that even though you're eligible, by the time you could sign up and start using it, you no longer work for the company and would have to pay COBRA to keep the insurance, and COBRA is more than double what it would cost you to get your own health insurance on your own, so no one ever actually takes it. can you afford to shell out $500/month on health insurance? didn't think so.

MEAL BREAKS
* 73% of reality TV writers work through their meal break at least once a week.
* Only 43% of reality TV writers always receive a meal break of at least 30 minutes.

my jobs have usually provided a full hour for lunch, but you learn not to eat at your desk, because if you do, you get put back to work and don't get to finish eating. loggers are the lowest of the low and usually only get 30 minutes. they also have quotas, so a lot of loggers end up eating while they work. the last job was pretty good about that, though. they preferred you take the full hour AWAY from your desk. they also offered health insurance. they're rare, and i loved them. i wish they had loved me. ::sigh::

TIMECARDS
* 86% of reality TV writers fill out timecards, but 59% say their timecards never accurately reflect hours they worked.
* 65% of reality TV writers handing in timecards say they've been asked to turn in a card that simply says �worked.�
* 57% of reality TV writers reported having been asked to turn in timecards early.

i'd laugh about this if i had the energy. no one EVER writes in the hours they actually worked, and everyone in a department writes down the exact same hours as everyone else does...they give you an example timecard to copy down and turn in as yours every week. i worked at one company that insisted i fill out my timecard with the lunch written in during the 4th hour, whether i took it or not. everyone in the entire company turned in the exact same timecard, and you usually turn them in on tuesday or wednesday for the same week you're currently working, which doesn't end until saturday. most jobs, you just write "worked" for every day you were there. if you miss a day, you draw a line through the day, and they don't pay you for it. of course, they don't pay you for the extra 2 hours over 8 that you worked every other day of the week, either. loggers get the slam on this. they make $100 day (it's called a "day rate") and work a minimum 10 hour shift 5 or 6 days a week. it's a rate of $9.09/hour plus a "bump" to make up whatever money it takes to equal the flat $100 for the day...like they're giving you extra money out of the goodness of their hearts, even though you didn't really work for it. it actually says "bump" on your paystub. if you work a partial day, like say only from 9 to noon, they pay you $9.09/hour for every hour or portion of hour you were there, with no "bump". isn't that sweet? they do not pay overtime. ever.

The new study is the latest effort by the WGAW to secure fair wages and benefits for more than 1,000 writers who currently work in the so-called �reality� TV genre. In 2005, the WGAW filed class action lawsuits against several major reality TV production companies and broadcast networks for wage and hour violations. Those cases are currently pending. In addition, over the past two years, the WGAW has helped writers file nearly two dozen labor complaints against various reality TV producers via California's Labor Commissioner Office.

For the full report and related documents, please visit:
http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=2601

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) represents writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new media industries in both entertainment and news. For more information, please visit: www.wga.org.

survey article and information property of and copyright to WGAW, not Katie Doyle; please direct official questions and comments to the WGA at the above web address. personal ones can go to katie.

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