Theatre Design & Technology - Dec 1965 - 19

etc., should be indicated here. And whenever a new

Time

que'stion of authority arises, employees should ask

prov is ions affect ing time maya ppear under the ir own

for a statement of authority from management.

heading elsewhere in the body of the contract or in

Employees should not be regularly asked to perform
duties outside of those specified in their contracts
(see Compen sati on). However,

s a matter of good

0

off, "Days of Rest," days off, and similar

the associated working rules. Actor's Equity, as an
example, has numerous rules covering an employee's
hours. One of the most important is illustrated here:

will, they should be willing to aid their employer

"There

in

end of employment on one day and the beginning of employment
on the next day." 7

time of emergency

if the additional duty

is a

reasonable one.
There are certa in place s where "serv ice in fact"
and "doubling" must be regulated. The Association
of Press Agents and Managers covers this problem
in their basic agreement:

It

is

sholl be on eleven (11) hour rest peliod between the

difficult

to believe that an employer

would

deliberately prohibit time for eating and sleeping, if
only for the effect it would have on his workers'
performance and mora Ie. However, c lau ses cover i ng
these times exist, and they may also be useful in

"Any (member) . . .
mus perform the dutIes of (h,s) posItIon
personally, and not in any way by substitution ,,4

planning a working schedule. A typical requirement

"No
member
. shall be permitted to double in the
position of another employee,.
. nor at any' one time discharge

dinner hour beginning at six P.M. Where work is re-

the duties of more thon one position

,,5

lunch hour starting at noon

and a

quired after midnight, sixty-minute breaks are spaced

Examples:

COMPENSATION

A. "The totol term of employment shall be from (FIRST
DATE OF ARRIVAL
0
(LA.ST NORMAL I' ORKING DAY).
subject fa he Termination Procedures designated in the body
of this contract."
B.

one

every four or five hours.

TERM OF CONTRACT
I.

specifies

I.

Examples:
A.

1. "All amounts owed are due ond payable on

"The following dotes cover the ~mployment period:
DATE OF ARRIVAL at (LOCATION) shall be
(MONTH) (DAY). 19 (YEAR), at (TIME, A.M.
OR P.M.).

REHEARSALS shall begin an (MONTH)
19 (YEAR), at (TIME, A.M. OR P.M.).

General Provisions (011 moy apply):
the lost day of performance."

2. The Employee shall not perform in ony capac·
ity outside of the Agreement of Employment
without additional negotiated compensation. ,t

(DAY),
3.

"The

acceptance

or

receipt

of

a

check or

draft shall not operate to minimize or affect
the Employee's claim for salary or other
compensation under his contract unlessSand
paid in full when presented for paymen "

The dote of the FIRST PUBLIC PERFORMANCE
shall be (MONTH) (DAY). 19 (YEAR), or not
later thon (NUMBER) days thereafter. "Preview
performances" will be considered as public performance s.

B.

The TERMINATION DATE oi this contract is
(MONTH) (DAY), 19 (YEAR), but i may be ex·
tended with the written agreement of bo h porties.

Methods of Payment (one moy opply):

I.

EXTENSIONS of tf,e terminotion dote sholl not con·
tinue beyond (MONTH) (DAY), 19 (YEAR)."

"The Employer agrees to poy the Employee
the sum of ($ AMOUNT) on or before (A C E R·
TAIN DAY) of each (WEEK, MONTH) within
the dates covered in the Term of Contract.
Said payment is to continue until this agree
ment is duly ond lawfully terminated."
4

2. "The Employer agrees to poy the Employee,
on
account
of the season, the sum of
(S AMOUNT) on (MONTH) (DAY), 19 (YEAR)
and the remainder of (S AMOUNT) immediately
follOWing the last performance."

C. "If the Employee does not present himself ot the loco·
tion, date, and arrival time specified in the body of this contract, the contract sholl be void an:.1 no payments shall be made."

3.

D. "A WEEK'S WORK WIll consist of no more thon (NUM·
BER\ performonces."

Compensation during rehearsal periods
sholl be ($ AMOUNT) each (DAY,
WEE K).

b.

Compensation on and after the first
public performance shall be ($ AMOUNT)
each (DAY, WEEK)

c.

The
[mployee
sho II
be
poi.:!
($
AMOUNT)
for
each (HOUR, DAY,
'lEEK, MONTH, OR PERFORMANCE)
which he agrees 0 work during on ex·
tens Ion of the contrac .

In many theatre areas (designing, managing, etc.),
performance can only

employee

has

first

rehearsal

sufficient
or

time

be assured

if the

to work before the

performance.

If

preparation

he dotes mentioned in

o.

Term of Contract refers to the amount of time

that an employee is to be affected by the conditions
of the contract.

adequate

within

he

Term of Contract, the follOWing sums:

Discussio~:

The

before (A CERTAIN DAY) of eoch (YEEK,

MONTH),

E. "The Employee will be given (NUMBER) DAYS OFF for
eoch (WEEK, MONTH) of employment. A DAY OFF shall be
defined 'as a twenty·four hour period ree of Employer-assigned
performances, special or "voluntary" appearances, rehearsals,
tasks, or travel."

II.

"The Employer agrees to poy the Employee on
0'

II.

Discussion:

IS

necessory, the contract may include an article protecting the employee: "The Employee will be called

Theatre unions usually demand that the employee's

HOURS) before the (F IRST OR DAILY REHEARSAL,

salary, or a port of it, be placed in bond with the
union. This makes the employee's salary independent
of the production's earning power. The un ions may

PERFORMANCE)."

even become their member's paying agent. However,

DECEMBER 1965

outsiders.

into service no less than (NUMBER DAYS, WEEKS,

this

sort of protection is usuolly not available to
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