Letter Of Complaint

To whom it may concern,

I am writing this letter in regards to the Apprentice Digital Video Production Producer job advert I have seen. There are many elements of this job advert that does not comply with the Equality Act 2010 and I would like to raise these issues with you in this letter. Some of the parts that do not comply with this equality act include age discrimination in the ‘looking for’ section and religious discrimination in the ‘religious views’ section. A contract is a piece of material you sign to agree to a particular job/activity, it is intended to be enforced by the law if the contract is breached. I am slightly worried to see that your job advert does not include anything about confidentiality. Your advert states that I will need to hand my application into your front desk in Norwich or email it but it doesn’t state anything about confidentiality and that it won’t be shared. I expect everything I hand in to be kept confidential and there should be something about confidentiality in the job advert but there isn't. This worries me as well if I was successful then would there be a confidentiality clause in my contract to not talk about the sensitive issues that may come up? There is also no word of this in the job advert. In your job advertisement it states that if successful then I cannot apply for another job of the same nature but there is no mention of a exclusivity clause? There should be one so it is a legally binding contract which would mean I would not be able to join a similar company in a similar segment of the industry so I won't be able to pass on information about the company or share other information. 

The Equality Act 2010 incorporated previous equality acts of parliament into one single piece of legislation, it includes:

- The Equal Pay Act 1970

- Sex Discrimination Act 1975

- Race Relations Act 1976

- Disability Discrimination Act 1995

- Employment Equality (religion or belief) Regulations 2003

- Employment Equality (sex orientation) Regulations 2003

- Employment Equality (age) Regulations 2006

By incorporating this into one single document it made it easier for the public to find out if they had been discriminated against and also made it easier for lawyers and trade unions to find out if the individual has been exploited against for legal cases.

There are many ways in which individuals can be discriminated against. One of these examples is direct discrimination, this is where the employer is treated differently to the other employees and seen as the less able employee because of a characteristic that they may have, this is shown in your job advert where is states applicants must be under the age of 30, this is ageism and very common in the workplace nowadays, applicants should not have their talent based on age, if you're good enough you're old enough.  Indirect discrimination is where the application applies to everyone equally however has an unequal effect on those that have a certain characteristic. This could mean that religious people are at an unequal level as they may struggle to participate in certain things. Indirect discrimination is evident in your job application as you say you want someone with Christian views but this is discrimination towards people who don’t have Christian views.

The employer’s liability act ensures that employers are responsible for health and safety of their employees while they are in the working environment. This was created in 1969 and also covers employers if they fall ill due to working in a certain environment. Employee’s rights act 1996 is when an employee begins employment the employer must give them a written statement of what the employment entails, with all health and safety information and when the employee begins and ends, this protects the employee from exploitation from and employer. This is not the case with your job application as their is not a written statement with exactly what the employment entails, hence breaking the employment rights act 1996 as it states 'it sounds like broad role because it is'. Due to having to create a short documentary before being selected for the interview process this means that the employees’ rights act is not met because I have not been selected for employment but still working for you in a sense, there is no written statement in the job advert which means this act is not met. The employer’s liability act is also not adhered there is no evidence of the employer ensuring that the employees’ health and safety is ok when making the video before being selected for the interviewing process or if the employee falls ill when making the video.

Trade unions are there to protect workers’ rights and ensure that they will back up the individual if exploited by the employer. This could be very helpful when it comes to backing you up when the employer could actually be exploiting you and you need help, for example this could relate to being exploited by yourselves because of religion, trade unions can be there to help you through the process of not being discriminated because of religion. One of the main trade unions in the UK is BECTU, this stands for Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematography and Theatre Union. This trade union is supported by people paying a subscription fee per year and they provide protection. As well as providing legal aid and hospital aid BECTU can work for the individual to help their members get fair treatment in regards to pay and job confidentiality.

Codes of practice are not specially part of the law, they are there to protect the individual and are effective when it comes to TV and film, employers are responsible for writing these policies and procedures up that are specific for the individual. In your job advert you say that for the film ‘no means no’ that you should interview teenagers and females that may have been affected by rape. Are you saying that males are not affected by these malicious crimes? By doing this you are representing the rape culture and saying that only teens and females can be affected. This seems very misleading to me as you are forcing your applicants to think that males cannot be affected which isn’t true on any level. Not only are you saying that males can’t be affected by rape but you are also inferring that males are always the people in the wrong for rape and creating an image in the applicants head of what a rapist looks like, this is not ethical at all. This is a huge social concern as you are inferring that certain individuals and groups are at fault for rape when anyone can be, this can create further stereotyping if the applicants go on to only interview females and teens as told in the job advert and then this is shown to other people.

There are also legal issues that surround this subject, the regulators are there to enforce the law on broadcasting issues and make sure every broadcast complies with the rules when it comes to the media. The Broadcasting Act 1990 created this and made it law that there must be a regulatory body that enforces this, this is proven with the quote 'It shall be the function of the commission to regulate in accordance with the Broadcasting Act, following television programme services' as well as this 'the rules to be observed with respect to the showing of violence or the inclusion of sounds suggestive of violence including licensed services, particularly when large numbers of children or young people may be expected to what this'. The aforementioned rule is breached in your advert as you say that the short documentary based on rape can be shown to children at high school. I see this as very inappropriate as saying all high school children can view it means that it’s possible for 12 year olds to be watching documentaries on rape, this does not seem appropriate and certainly doesn’t protect under 18’s which Ofcom are very serious about. There are some codes that relate to this protection act:

1.1 Material that might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of people under eighteen must not be broadcast.

Bu showing this type of footage of under age children it could seriously impair the mental and moral development of people under 18. This could paint the picture in these

1.2 In the provision of services, broadcasters must take all reasonable steps to protect people under eighteen. For television services, this is in addition to their obligations resulting from the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (in particular, Article 27, see Appendix 2)

1.3 Children must also be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.

In the job advert it states you should use re-enactments, by doing this it’s possible that inappropriate footage may be used, this footage needs to be censored if possible otherwise it could be harming children hence them not being protected.  The reason for Ofcom to exist is due to the Communications Act 2003 which includes the regulation by which Ofcom can carry out their duties:

Ofcom's powers:

-  The power to undertake research and development work in connection with any matter in relation to which they have functions

- Power to institute and carry out criminal proceedings in England and Wales or Northern Ireland for an offence in relation to which they have functions.

By having this power it means that Ofcom can carry out and report any issues that may arise in relation to any of the functions that they have power in.

The Obscene Publications Act 1959 is the act to provide protection of literature and to strengthen the law 

concerning pornography; this is another act that you will be breaching as your job advert states that you will be using re-enactments. This is likely to be of a sexual nature which could mean this rule is not abided to and you could be breaking the obscene publications act, something to be wary of for sure.

Another organisation that will be involved is the BBFC as they will need to certify the video that will be made to make sure it fits the right age category and further protects some people from watching content. The video you want to be produced as advertised in the job advert will probably be a 15 due to its sexual and sensitive nature. This means that a lot of high school students would not be able to watch it as high school students range from 12-16 years old. However, some students may be able to watch it if it is rated as a PG which is possible if the sexual nature of the re-constructions are kept to a minimum. 

Intellectual property is very important when it comes to media and your job advert states that the creator will be reimbursed up to £20 for the cost of goods. This is a minuscule amount considering the cost of things and this could encourage creators to dip into downloading music so they are not at a disadvantage of getting a job. This is against the law as it is breaching the Copyright act 1988 which says you can't reproduce sounds that are owned by an individual and you don't have the right to use. 

Best Regards, 

Jack Reeve