Rates of Pay Guidance

We are often asked about rates of pay, both those in our Ethical Manager Agreements and those for roles that are not covered by our union agreements.   Below is some guidance, we are always happy to discuss individual cases with members, and the current minimum rates that we have negotiated with Equity, BECTU, the Writers Guild and Unite can be found on the ITC website.

Daily Working

Many of the ITC union agreements have a negotiated minimum daily rate, which must be used as the bottom line by Ethical Manager members and is recommended to other members for guidance. 

Where there is no negotiated daily rate but there is a weekly minimum, any daily rate should never be less than the weekly rate divided by six.  Do bear in mind  that if someone is working for you for a day or two it is likely to be difficult for them to fill up the other days and earn a full week’s salary that week, so we always recommend paying well over that 1/6 week figure, aim for at least £120-£150 per day.

Where several days are worked in a week, payment can be on the basis of a daily rate for up to 3 days work a week. Where four or more days a week are being worked, the full weekly rate should be paid.

Allowances

The Weekly Living Away Allowance applies either where the company member relocates to the to the company base (e.g. rehearsal period) or any period of a week or more where the company is in one place (e.g. on tour). 

Commuting Costs: If the Company Member is not receiving either accommodation or accommodation allowances and is incurring costs for travel, they may claim fares or petrol costs from the Manager, on a weekly basis. There is a weekly threshold (set out in the Rates Sheet at the end of this Contract) below which commuting costs will not be reimbursed and reimbursement is capped at a maximum weekly sum equivalent to the relevant living away allowance for relocation Cost ceiling.

Accommodation

When a Company Member has a home address more than 25 miles away from their place(s) of work (for rehearsals or performances) and requires accommodation, either on tour or at base, the default position agreed between ITC and Equity is that providing suitable accommodation is the responsibility of the manager.  On the rare occasion, when it is agreed that the Company Member will finds their own accommodation, the manager will pay either a Daily or Weekly Living Away Allowance, as appropriate.  Where a Company Member stays with friends or family, with the Manager’s agreement, a lower daily allowance is payable.

Commuting Allowance Commuting Allowance is payable when working at base, for company members who are not being provided with accommodation or an accommodation allowance.  Where their travel costs are more than £30.24 per week the additional cost will be reimbursed, up to a cap of at £104.80p/w (inside London and £125.76 p/w outside London).

Daily Accommodation Allowance: To be paid on the rare occasions when the manager is not booking accommodation, but the company member arranges hotel/B&B/etc. A lower rate applies where the company member decides to stay with friends or family.

Daily Meal Allowance: To be paid when provided accommodation does not have cooking facilities or is for less than 5 days (making it difficult to stock up and cook).  There are different rates for accommodation where breakfast is provided and where it is not.  Where the Manager provides self-catering accommodation with basic cooking supplies (tea, oil, salt, pepper, etc) for a week or more, daily meal allowances will not be payable.

Rates for roles where there is no union agreement e.g: composers, dramaturgs, sound designers

We do not have collective national agreements for everyone, some roles are not represented by unions. One way to calculate an appropriate rate is to compare these roles with someone for whom there is a union rate, see how important they are and scale the rate accordingly e.g.: a composer for a musical may be doing just as much as a writer so should get a similar level of remuneration, a composer/sound designer composing something that is original but in the background should probably be offered less.

Per diems

This term is often used to refer to daily allowances for meals and accommodation that are provided when on tour. In the past round sum allowances in union agreements were exempt from tax and NI so the employee had a cash sum to do as they wished with. Since the late 1990s the rules have changed and, whilst you will not be deducting tax or NI at source from performers or stage managers pay packets in most cases they will have to declare this in tax returns and may have to pay out. The ITC/Equity agreement now offers the alternative ways of the manager providing accommodation and meals, or providing round sum allowances to cover either or both of these.