The Illustrated Fair Work Guide

In case there are any lingering questions of how to practise Fair Work in the creative industries in Scotland there is now a step-by-step guide, and it has pictures!The Illustrated Fair Work Guide provides the absolute basics of Fair Work with practical examples of how to put them into practice in the work environment. Introducing each of the Scottish Government’s Fair Work Dimensions – Effective Voice, Opportunity, Fulfilment, Respect and Security – with pictures guiding you along the way. The Illustrated Fair Work Guide has 144 pages (including cover page) and also dedicates a chapter to Fair Work with Freelancers, as well as contributes resources and support for those within the industry.

With the Scottish Government wanting to be the best place to live by ambitiously aiming for being a world-leading Fair Work nation by 2025, employers are going to need to make a few changes to make this dream a reality. The Illustrated Fair Work Guide has all the basics to make this happen:

• Key Information

• Case Studies

• The Basics laid out point blank

This illustrated guide dives head first stating that the basic changes employers will need to make are to actually pay the living wage. What a shocker, who saw that coming? The Scottish government take it a step further and place criteria including making no inappropriate use of zero hour contracts and offer flexible working hours from day one of employment.

The numbers that the guide offers are astounding. It clearly calls out employers for issues within the industry such as not being paid on time. Most of these issues that are being called out are done by freelancers. This comes as no surprise when freelancers make up roughly two-thirds of the entertainment industry. Both formal and informal freelancer networks have sprung up to meet these challenges, and it seems the Scottish Government has taken notice.

“Only 38% of freelancers said they were always paid on time when working in the cultural sector.”

If you’re reading along in the Illustrated Fair Work Guide and are still confused on what can be done, they lay all the cards on the table on pages 108-109 in Chapter 7. Transparency, contracts, clarity, inclusion of freelancers, protection, reimbursement, training, and connection are the way to go.

For those who are freelance in the industry, you will find a list of resources and support starting on page 132, Chapter 9 of the Illustrated Fair Work Guide. 

While I could still go on and tell you all the great things this guide offers I also am aware that most people in the creative sector won’t bother to download it, let alone read it. If you are a fan of 2D style comics, it will be an easier read. The illustrated part helps break the entire guide into sections while still providing people with the facts that are necessary for all of this to be relevant. Because it really is time to get real. The entertainment and arts industry has been promising for years that things will get better for freelancers (its most reliable source of workers). Many thought this change would occur after 2020 once everything toxic about the industry became very public. Yet it still grasps at everything it can hold onto, including holding out on us.