The Talent Manager is calling on all freelancers to help build a picture of rates of pay across the industry with the launch of a new tool.
By feeding information on current and past productions anonymously into RateChecker, freelancers will feed into a database of pay levels that will enable them to search for accurate industry rates. Over 7000 rates have been added over 388 job roles.
The tool is designed to help all members negotiate better rates and to chart the impact of Covid on production budgets and freelancer pay.
This is not a case of ‘naming and shaming’ production companies over their fees - we will not reveal the name of the company you may have worked for and publish only the channel and time slot and it is accepted that larger companies will be able to operate with greater economies of scale. However, it will establish the going rates for certain job types in specific genres and across all time slots, channels and platform at any one moment in time.
The tool is simple to use and completely confidential. Lists of shows and rates will be visible only to the individual account holder.
Visit and complete the RateChecker here
We have been delighted to hear some of the initial responses from freelancers and the wider industry:
This is a much-needed innovation in an industry which desperately needs more transparency in how it pays its freelancers. Chris Monk
Brilliant new feature! Use this and your @bectu rate card to prevent rates from being undercut!!! Nicholas de Taranto`
Knowledge is power and it's so important to be more open with rates so that individuals are not consistently underpaid for the value they bring. Transparency is crucial to fairness and closing the gender pay gap and this will hopefully be a great tool to empower freelancers. Anna Wallace
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This is so smart. Hope it gets the attention it deserves. At the intersection of so many issues is money. And nobody wants to talk about it. Know your worth! Campbell Glennie
Finally! This is game changing for TV freelancers. Allanah Langstaff
It's about time something like this has been implemented. Freelancers need to speak more freely about their rates and production companies need to stop paying people less than their worths. Raylean Murray
This is huge. A real game changer. Martha Stern
In an industry where you never know how much someone else doing the same job is being paid, this tool will prove vital when going into contract negotiations. Bravo. Ruairi Sparks
I was on £180 a day, negotiated me down from their own initial £200 a day. This is why this is important. Saima Ferdows
