Pact and Bectu have issued a joint statement to eliminate broken turnaround times on shoots, where workers receive less than an agreed 11-hour break between finishing work and starting again.
Pact and Bectu are are calling on BBC Studios – as the biggest production company in the UK – as well as the Streamers to join us in trying to address this issue, rather than leaving the burden of the work to independent producers and Bectu.
Following the new crew agreement which came into force at the beginning of 2023, there has been a reduction in the shooting day, changes to working hours and the abolition of overtime payments at the start of the working day. There has been a significant reduction in broken turnaround payments compared with 2022, the last year of the old agreement.
A recent study on broken turnaround commissioned by Pact and carried out by Team Engine using timesheet data on scripted productions
- Band 2 shows – 45% reduction in crew breaking turnaround
- Band 3 shows – 52% reduction in crew breaking turnaround
- Band 4 shows – 53% reduction in crew breaking turnaround
Pact Bectu joint statement
All workers are entitled to receive an 11-hour break between finishing work and starting again (known as an 11-hour turnaround).
On scripted productions, our agreement recognises that this may not always be possible and provides for producers to give the time back or pay a penalty. Although under the 2023 agreement there has been a significant reduction in crew breaking turnaround, both Pact and Bectu would like to see it eliminated altogether.
Good planning and management can eliminate or reduce broken turnaround. This is something which all in positions of responsibility can work together to achieve, from line producers to heads of department.
For these reasons, Pact and Bectu have pledged to try and eliminate broken turnaround in scripted and unscripted productions. Pact and Bectu had a constructive first meeting about this topic on the 3rd of June 2025 and discussed setting strict boundaries on the use of broken turnaround to enable crew to maintain a healthier work/life balance. A further meeting is provisionally scheduled for late July and both parties have invited BBC Studios, ITV and the PMA to join the roundtable discussion.
Pippa Considine
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