Ms Karan O'Loughlin:

This is a serious problem in the industry and it is probably the biggest source of complaint. A person could work in the industry for 30 years and still have no form of security or continuity of employment and everything that comes with that. No rights are built up and there are zero protections. There is an easy answer to it. There is an accepted wisdom in the industry that this is the way it is globally. Many things were accepted globally as the right thing for a long time but they are no longer accepted practices now.

The nearest comparative industry to the film industry has to be the construction industry. It goes from project to project and builders can be involved in several projects at the same time. There can be overlap in all of those projects. They do not have the same problem. The construction industry in general, when building houses, hotels, schools or whatever, has long periods of employment and short periods of employment. However, between those periods of employment, if the builder does not have another project, the employees are put on lay-off. They can take up other work or not. When the next project comes along, the builder recalls those people back to work. If the break is not over six months long, then it is all reckonable service for employment purposes, if the committee understands what I mean by that.

There is a very easy answer to this. The special purpose vehicle is the small vehicle but the production company is the main gig and it should be the main employer. If I am the production company and I have a special purpose vehicle and I want a person in that as an employee for that time, there is no reason I cannot be the main employer. The person is then put on that production. I do not see that as rocket science. The situation makes people incredibly vulnerable in the industry. People have to be compliant and not complain about anything for the reasons mentioned. Individuals cannot stand up for anything because disagreeing too strongly might mean he or she may not get the next gig. I am not accusing anybody of doing that in this room. I am saying it is a fact of life as the committee has identified. Where there is a power imbalance and a person feels vulnerable, then he or she is more likely to be compliant in the way that he or she works rather than assert rights to good terms and conditions, etc. I do not believe rocket science is needed to overcome this problem.