How the DOLE & FDCP joint memo affects your production budget
This is first of a series of articles outlining the impact of Joint Memorandum Circular №1, series of 2020 of the Department of Labor and Employment and the Film Development Council of the Philippines particularly on production costs, set discipline, and workers’ rights in the audio-visual industry.
Taking effect on February 29, the recently-signed “Guidelines governing the working conditions and occupational safety and health of workers in the audio-visual production” maybe an historic feat for the current administration. It is, nonetheless, the kind of necessary industrial change long overdue for many, if not all, media practitioners in the country.
But, just as any good producer would immediately ask about news like this, let’s dig into how much will the changes cost the production its well-guarded money.
Right off the bat, the joint memorandum champions decent working hours and pay. Sec. 4.1.7 provides:
OVERTIME. The normal hours of work shall be eight (8) hours in a day. Overtime work may be extended to sixteen (16) hours in exceptional circumstances. However, the hours of work shall not exceed sixty (60) hours in a week.
For work in excess of eight (8) hours performed on ordinary working days, the worker is entitled to 25% of the hourly rate unless a more favorable rate is stipulated in the contract. Additional premium pay shall be provided on overtime pay performed during rest days, special days, and regular holidays.
An 8-hour work day might seem short, but is no less a standard labor practice workers zealously fought for, among other things, centuries ago.
Still, producers will have the last say about how much a person is getting paid (especially now that they are limited to eight guaranteed hours of work). But, alas, premium and overtime pay will have to kick in.
Though JMC №1, s. 2020 much relies on the contracts between producers and workers, both parties may turn to standard wage computation as enshrined in our law books for guidance: the Philippine Labor Code, as amended, in particular. (See table below.)
To illustrate, a production assistant currently earns ₱1,500 daily and is expected to work at least 10 hours. 1,500÷10 yields to an hourly rate of ₱150.
In the new set-up, the same worker will receive at least ₱1,200 for a day’s work [150 x 8 hours (excluding mealtime)] and an additional ₱187.50 [150 x 125% RR OT] for every hour of overtime — or an extra ₱75 for the same number of hours as above [1,200 + (187.5 x 2) = 1,575].
The daily rate can then surge to ₱1,560 (RD), ₱1,800 (SH), ₱2,400 (RH), and P3,120 (HR) — all excluding OT.
Unlike special and regular holidays which are easily identifiable, there are no standard rest days, per se, in the audio-visual industry. For purposes of wage computation, therefore, a rest day can mean the mandatory period of “not less than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours after every six (6) consecutive normal work days” under the Labor Code, and those non-shooting days previously identified on the production schedule or per production company’s policy.
Note that traveling to overnight locations are considered actual work time, except for computing overtime and rest period (Sec. 4.4.3).
Calculating work hours depends on the work location, so that actual work time will start when the worker arrives:
a. on set if traveling within 25 kms of his or her home or the pull-out location, called near studio locations (sec. 4.4.1), or
b. for distant locations, on the pull-out location if beyond 25 kms or if the producer “instructs the worker to fly and the trip takes less than twenty-four (24) hours by air” (sec. 4.4.2).
Cast and crew may get even more in their paychecks through meal and rest period penalties.
Healthy meals are prescribed in sec. 4.3.1 for every six hours from call time, with a non-compensated meal break lasting for at least one hour. “A meal penalty is imposed on the producer”, as is the practice in Western productions, “for every half hour that has lapsed”. A 15-minute grace period is observed.
Therefore, a shoot day called at 6:00 am must break for lunch at 12 nn. Otherwise, after 12:15 pm, meal penalties are incurred at 12:45 pm, 1:15 pm, and so on.
Penalty takes the form of monetary compensation towards the cast and crew. In the United States, for example, the exact amount varies as different workers’ unions set their own rules. In some cases, the fine increases after the first, second, and third half-hours.
Moreover, JMC №1, s. 2020 imposes a 12-hour rest period between days, from wrap until the next calltime (sec. 4.1.9), called turnaround time.
Forced calls happen when a worker is required to report on the set before the end of turnaround time, which, under the aforesaid rule, results to penalty.
In this case, some workers abroad are entitled to compensation usually equal to his or her daily rate, in addition to his actual work pay for the day. Sec. 4.1.9, however, speaks of “hours”, and so hourly rate must be applied.
Additional costs include paid pre-production (sec. 4.1.4) and post-production work (sec. 4.1.5) as well as cancellations (sec. 4.1.10); providing insurance and social welfare benefits (sec. 4.2.1); mandatory travel reimbursements and ₱10/kilometer compensation for self-driving workers (similar to mileage allowances in Canada and the United States); one-bed-for-each-worker arrangement in accommodations (sec. 4.6); and various occupational safety and health standards requirements (sec. 5.4), among others.
It bears stressing again that, sans standardized wages and penalties, workers should use their individual contracts to demand the protections and guarantees the joint memorandum offer. More so, JMC №1, s. 2020 promotes the right of workers in the audio-visual production to self-organization “for the purpose of collective bargaining and to engage in concerted activities” (sec. 11).
With all these in mind, should producers get alarmed of the additional costs? Of course, not. Much of the extra pesos will ultimately benefit the often described over-worked and underpaid local workforce, as well as prevent unnecessary budget stresses caused by long shooting hours, accidents on set, and so on.
These recent changes are a sign of the industry’s long-desired maturity, as we level ourselves with more established and developed countries — especially now as Philippines ventures into the next 100 years of local cinema.
Additional articles under this series will be posted under the tag “AV workers rights memo”.
