Zero-hours reforms ‘threaten entire staffing model of theatres’

Government plans to reform employment law to improve rights for workers could have a significant detrimental impact on theatres and arts venues, a former Arts Minister has warned.

Under changes set out in the Employment Rights Bill, which is currently being considered in the House of Lords, employers will have to offer workers on zero- or low-hours contracts a guaranteed number of hours.

This will be based on the average number of hours per week worked over a “reference period”, which government has suggested is likely to be 12 weeks.

But Lord Parkinson, Arts Minister under the previous Conservative government, has said the proposals as they stand could result in theatres and arts venues paying staff when no work exists, placing “enormous pressure” on budgets.

Speaking during a debate on the Bill in parliament yesterday (30 April) Parkinson said that as major employers of a casual workforce, theatres “have to manage highly irregular and unpredictable staffing needs while supporting and valuing their workers, without whom theatre simply could not happen”.

Short-notice cancellations

He pointed out that even long-running productions experience periods of closure, or “dark weeks”, adding that performances can be cancelled at short notice for a variety of reasons including severe weather causing leaks or other damage, external events such as power cuts, or industrial grievances such as train strikes from other sectors having a knock-on effect.

“During times such as these, there is, quite simply and unavoidably, no front-of-house work available,” Parkinson said.

“Guaranteeing hours during periods like that, as the Bill requires, would mean paying staff when no work exists, placing enormous pressure on theatres’ and other arts venues’ already very tight operating budgets.

“The proposals in the Bill as currently drafted, regarding the right to guaranteed hours for casual workers, risk upsetting the delicate equilibrium by which the theatre sector operates, balancing commercial viability with social value, long-term investment with short-term realities, and the demands of an irregular calendar with a commitment to fairness for its workforce.

“Guaranteeing fixed hours based on short-term patterns of work, as the Bill proposes, would introduce a level of rigidity that threatens their entire staffing model.”

‘Available hours’

Parkinson said the concept of allowing theatres to offer workers “available hours” – the actual hours that an employer can offer workers in a given period – would “allow for the equitable allocation of work while remaining responsive to the volatile nature of theatre operations”.

He added that the Bill risks damaging the ability of theatres to take creative risks as well as their ability to maintain their heritage buildings and serve the community.

“What is intended as a protection could in practice become a barrier to access and inclusion,” he said.

However, Labour peer Baroness Jones, a government minister in the Department for Business and Trade, said introducing the concept of available hours into the legislation would risk creating a “two-tier guaranteed-hours framework” for workers in sectors with more or less seasonal fluctuation.

She said that “flexibility is already built into the Bill to address issues of seasonal demand”, adding that the legislation offers several ways for an employer to approach the issue while upholding the new rights to guaranteed hours, including the use of limited-term contracts where reasonable.

“Those who are offered guaranteed hours will be able to turn those down and remain on their current contract or arrangement if they wish,” she said.

“Furthermore, through the Bill we have also allowed for employees and unions to collectively agree to opt out of the zero-hours contract measures. Unions can make these deals based on their knowledge of the industry and with a holistic view on what is best for their workers.

“We believe that the reference period provided for in the Bill will ensure that qualifying workers are offered guaranteed hours that reflect the hours that they have previously worked.”

Clear guidance

Jones added that government will ensure that the needs of different sectors are considered when it designs the regulations.

“We will continue to work in partnership with employers across the different sectors, their representatives, the recruitment sector and the trade unions to develop those detailed regulations, and we will provide clear guidance for both employers and workers in advance of implementing these measures,” she said.

An amendment calling for an exemption from the planned changes for struggling arts organisations is set to be discussed in the coming weeks as members of the House of Lords continue to scrutinise the provisions.