Crumbs of comfort from late-payment reforms
Tim Dawson, NUJ freelance organiser, assesses the UK government’s plans to address late and poor payment practices.
Launching a government initiative at a biscuit factory is quite the gift for those prepared to be underwhelmed. ‘They promised cookies and delivered crumbs’, is an oven-ready taunt. Without apparent sense of irony, however, ministers from the Department of Business and Trade journeyed to McVities in Harlesden to unveil recommendations from their late payment inquiry.
Last July, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “From builders and electricians to freelance designers and manufacturers - too many hardworking people are being forced to spend precious hours chasing payments instead of doing what they do best - growing their businesses.
He called it: “unfair, exhausting, and it’s holding Britain back. So, our message is clear: it’s time to pay up.”
Ministers invited freelances and small business owners to tell them which laws, regulations of business practices were holding them back.
More than 800 shared their views, among them scores of freelance journalists. They told the government about the pernicious impact of late payment on individual media workers. They detailed how news platforms use their overwhelming economic superiority to impose truly shocking terms on contributors, such as the nonpayment for commissioned work that is not published, payment on publication months after submission, and rights grabs that leave freelances unable to publish their own work on personal websites.
Despite the real pain freelances described, few potential solutions made it into the government's announcement. As the Hobnobs flew off McVities’ production line, Peter Kyle, UK business secretary, announced: “[Ours is] the most ambitious legislation to tackle late payments in over 25 years. We will build upon and strengthen the reforms of the previous government while going significantly further and faster - putting in place the strongest legal framework on late payments in the G7.”
The reforms planned by the government will limit payment terms to 60 days save in some “strictly limited exceptions”. The right to charge interest of 8% over base rates on unpaid sums will become mandatory in contracts. The Small Business Commissioner (SBC) will also be empowered to investigate, adjudicate and fine persistent late payers. Whether the SBC gives their attention to business practices in the news media remains to be seen.
Companies will also be required to ensure that their audit committees consider and report upon payment practices. This does not guarantee change but will flush the issue into the open.
This fresh attention on the impact of late payment is welcome, even if the proposed reforms are modest, and the government has apparently little to say on the other issues raised by self-employed journalists. There will be justified disappointment among all who hoped that this initiative might be a new start for the thousands of reporters, feature writers and photographers who sustain the UK’s world beating news media.
All is not lost, however. The government is expected to soon unveil its new ‘Freelance Champion’ to resolve issues that bedevil sole-trading creatives. Issues that have not been addresses in yesterday's announcement must be forwarded to this new post holder. Unless we all continue to bang that drum, the scourge of abusive practices that have invaded our industry in the past several decades will continue.
So, what lesson to take from the crumbs represented by the government's plans?
The most important is that, with a will, we can get these issues on the legislative agenda – but there is a lot more to do if we are to rid our industry of abusive practices. We must continue to push for fundamental changes for freelances, including requiring payment on completion of work and introducing a statutory right for freelances to trades union recognition.
All those who responded to the consultation or wrote to their MPs about business terms should let their elected representatives know how much, or little, difference these proposals will mean to them. The NUJ will certainly be raising them with our cross-party parliamentary group. Freelances should also bring up the issue with the news platforms for whom they work, and talk to colleagues about the impact of such unfair treatment.
The crumbs on offer fall short of my hopes for this initiative. A fragmented digestive provides a useful metaphor, however. It is better used as the base for tomorrow’s cheesecake than swept away in frustration.