16 recommendations to improve employment conditions in the Scottish creative sector have been welcomed by the Scottish Culture Secretary, Angus Robertson.
The Culture Fair Work Taskforce has examined how the industry could be improved around freelancing, internships and safeguarding against AI theft.
The 16 recommendations include the creation of a disputes and adjudication mechanism to handle issues between employers and staff.
Also a way to safeguard creatives’ work against theft from AI misappropriation, and an increased role for Creative Scotland.
“I am very grateful to members of the independent Taskforce for their work on this report, which identifies a number of areas for improvement when it comes to how Fair Work is embedded in Scotland’s creative industries,” said Culture Secretary.
“I will take time to carefully consider the detail of the recommendations for Scottish Government and will update Parliament in due course on the actions we will take in response. Given that some would intersect with reserved legislation, I will also be writing urgently to ask my UK Government counterparts to consider what actions they can take.”
The Culture Fair Work Charter would look at freelance, wages, training and best practice across the Scotland.
The taskforce has also recommended a “reconsideration” of self-employed creatives’ legal status, to ensure they have fair working conditions and looking at UNESCO recommendations regarding artist incomes.
It has also put forward plans for a Freelance Commission and Freelance Commissioner for Scotland, following similar plans in the UK, where a commission would address “systemic issues such as late payments, the provision of contracts, health and safety support, and ongoing concerns around copyright and artificial intelligence.”
“It has been a pleasure chairing the Independent Culture Fair Work Taskforce with colleagues from across the creative industries and culture sector. Union representation, arts organisations, industry membership bodies, enterprise agencies, local authorities, creative networks, historic bodies, museums and freelancers have all been represented,” said Briana Pegado, Chair of the independent Taskforce.
“Creative Scotland has also been represented on this task force. I am so grateful to the Taskforce members that have contributed their time, energy and expertise to this work.
“There has been a real commitment to crafting a set of recommendations that speak to areas as broad as fair pay and remuneration to the impact of AI on the cultural sector workforce. Considerations of equity and inclusion as well as how fair work may be enforced are all part of our recommendations. I am confident that many of our recommendations signal radical, innovative solutions to fair work that will help Scotland reach its ambitions to be a Fair Work Nation by 2030. Models across the continent have been considered and approaches across different industries have been reviewed. I am confident that our recommendations and draft charter prove to be a roadmap for the future of Fair Work that demonstrates a real appetite for systemic change can exist alongside practical solutions grounded in deeply embedded partnership working.”
You can read the full recommendations here.
