Legal & Ethical Obligations

Legal & Ethical Obligations

Equal Opportunities

Equal opportunities is when people have the right to be treated fairly and equally without discrimination, especially about people's race, gender or age.  In previous decades women were paid lower wages than men for doing similar work, also there was not a lot of jobs that were offered to women as much as men and women lost their jobs just for being pregnant. 

However the things that have changed over previous decades in a work place is that more women are entering a wider range of occupations. The media may have be an important part in promoting gender equality in the working environment and also the representation of both men and women. 


An example of a case brought against a media institution is when a former BBC presenter Miriam O'Reilly won her case for age discrimination against the corporation after she was fired from Countryfile shown on BBC ONE. she was one of four females presenters all in their 40's or 50's who were fired from the show. 


Belonging to a trade union 

A trade union is an organised association of workers in a trade, group of trades or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests. A trade union provides assistance and services to their members, what they do is ask persuade employers to treat their staff fairly, whether your employed or freelance. 

They bargain for better pay and better conditions for all their workers and they do this to make the employee's happier with their working conditions. The main trade union within the UK film and TV is BECTU and they have a wide range of services with 25,000 voluntary members. 

Trade unions main goal is to protect and advance the interest of its members. Trade unions often negotiate different agreements with employers on pay and conditions. Also trade unions may provide legal advice and financial advice to it's members. 

BECTU trade union's freelance branches bring together members who work on a freelance basis according to their craft or physical location. BECTU has an important role to play in connecting freelances to one another so that information of mutual benefit can be shared.