Some working practices cause harm, and it is your legal duty to take steps to address them. Failure to do so could lead to personal tragedies, reputational damage and uncapped levels of compensation.

This guide is only a brief summary. Some rules only apply to employees, other rules apply more broadly to workers. Some rules apply to everyone, including freelancers. You may need professional advice to deal with a specific situation.

To help you take steps to comply with these laws, WorkWise has created up-to-date, sector-specific, free-to-access online resources. They include model documents and policies, articles and signposts to other guidance.

The Law

The fundamental legal relationship between an employer and its workforce, covering unfair dismissal, statutory leave entitlements, and contract terminations. It sets out the key distinction between employees, workers and contractors / freelancers.

Impact

Establishes key parameters for providing job information, employment contracts and service agreements. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) has become a day-one right, payable from the first qualifying day of illness. From 1 January 2027, the current unfair dismissal qualifying period drops from two years to six months, making early performance monitoring a commercial necessity. Further changes to rules relating to zero hours contracts are expected. Breaches could result in uncapped levels of compensation.

The Law

Businesses have a legal duty to check and verify that every individual they engage has the right to work in the UK before engagement begins. This applies to employees, workers, and in some circumstances, contractors.

Impact

With international co-productions, visiting talent, and
a highly mobile freelance workforce, right-to-work compliance is a live risk on every production. Checks must be completed before the first day of engagement, not retrospectively. Employing someone without the right to work can result in a fine of up to £60,000, and in serious cases, criminal prosecution.

The Law

Any business that engages employees is legally required to hold Employers’ Liability insurance with a minimum cover of £5 million.

Impact

Productions that engage employees, even on a short- term or day-rate basis, must hold a valid EL policy before anyone starts work. Failure to do so carries a fine of up to £2,500 per day of non-compliance. The policy must be displayed or made available. Whether someone is an employee, worker or freelancer is notoriously hard to determine with certainty.

The Law

Protects individuals from discrimination, harassment, and victimisation on the basis of nine protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation).

Impact

A business must eliminate both direct discrimination (less favourable treatment) and indirect discrimination (applying a seemingly uniform rule or practice that disproportionately disadvantages a specific protected group). Reasonable adjustments must also be made for employees with disabilities. Breaches could result in uncapped levels of compensation, including for injury to feelings.

A Dignity at Work Policy can also be used to align the law with industry codes of practice. See the WorkWise website for an example (link on back cover).

The Law

A statutory duty on employers to take “reasonable steps” to protect their workforce from sexual harassment. From October 2026, the duty changes to “all reasonable steps” Non-Statutory guidance is set out in the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s Technical Guidance on Sexual Harassment and Harassment at Work and the companion EHRC 8 Step Employer Guide.

Impact

Shifts regulatory exposure from a reactive model (investigating an incident after a complaint is lodged) to a forward-looking risk-management model. A business must map environmental hazards, structural power imbalances, and potential third-party harassment risks, not merely respond to them after the fact. Third-party risks must be included in pre-production risk mapping. Breaching this duty allows an employment tribunal to award up to 25% uplift on any successful award.

The Law

Protects workers from detrimental treatment or dismissal for making protected disclosures. Note “workers” is widely defined and includes agency workers, freelance workers, seconded workers and home workers. Protected disclosures can be made to an employer, a prescribed person (including CIISA), legal advisors, and in some situations, law enforcement bodies and the media.

Impact

If a business sidelines, fails to rehire, or penalises a whistleblower for speaking up, it could face an
uncapped employment tribunal claim for detriment, unfair dismissal and/or victimisation. Businesses must not prevent whistleblowing in confidentiality agreements, NDAs, or settlement agreements. Protecting reporting channels from professional detriment is a primary compliance duty.

The Law

Imposes a statutory duty on businesses to carry out “suitable and sufficient” risks assessments and to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare of employees and third parties engaged in a project. Non-statutory guidance is set out in the HSE’s Management Standards for Work Related Stress.

Impact

Legally binds workplace culture directly to safety.
All businesses have a duty to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of physical and psychosocial hazards. Documenting this tracking process creates an audit trail that can be required by inspection authorities.

The Law

Businesses must systematically evaluate and control physical and psychosocial workplace hazards (principally through risk assessments), appoint competent persons to oversee health and safety compliance, and provide employees with comprehensive information and training. HSE publishes sector-specific resources and guidance.

Impact

Requires documented risk assessments addressing operational and environmental triggers. A business must actively map and implement mitigation measures for high-risk pressure points. You cannot prove you have taken all reasonable steps to mitigate risks without written risk assessments.

The Law

The non-statutory guidance that tribunals take into account when considering how employers deal with workplace disputes, grievances, and disciplinary processes. Disputes with freelancers are governed by the terms of their commercial contract. However, because the Equality Act 2010 may still apply, the core fairness principles of the Acas Code may still be relevant.

Impact

Any internal formal investigation must guarantee procedural fairness: a clear right to be accompanied
at meetings, impartial fact-finding before a decision is reached, a confidential environment, and an accessible appeals route. An unreasonable failure to follow the Acas Code can result in an adjustment of up to 25% to any award it makes.

The Law

Governs the processing, security, and lawful retention
of personal information. Conduct records and disclosure files are likely to contain personal data classified as highly restricted Special Category Data, which can only be processed with additional safeguards.

Impact
An individual can issue a Subject Access Request (SAR), which requires the business to conduct a reasonable and proportionate search for relevant correspondence and records about them, and to send them copies (subject to exemptions). All businesses must have a data protection complaints process. The ICO has the power to levy substantial fines if personal data is not handled correctly.

The Law

It may be a criminal offence for someone to send a message that is grossly offensive, indecent, obscene, menacing, or intentionally false. Sometimes the intent to cause anxiety or distress is relevant, as is the method of sending the message.

Impact

Inappropriate messaging, targeted bullying, or discriminatory comments in WhatsApp groups, Slack channels, or similar apps may constitute criminal offences under these Acts. Businesses may be liable for messages sent by senior managers.

The Law

Rules relating to maximum weekly working hours, night work protocols, and mandatory rest periods. An updated framework for shift cancellations is expected in 2027 for irregular-hours and zero-hours workers. Guidance is published in the HSE Operational Guidance for Film and TV Productions. Other rules and exemptions apply to daily driving limits.

Impact

The 1998 Regulations govern maximum weekly working hours, night work protocols, and mandatory rest periods. While Regulation 21 permits screen productions to modify standard rest patterns to maintain continuity of production, a business has a duty, whenever possible, to provide equivalent compensatory rest, and health and safety legislation will continue to apply.

The Law

Employee rights to request flexible working arrangements from day one of employment. Acas publishes its Code of Practice on Requests for Flexible Working. In addition to bereavement, maternity, paternity and shared parental leave, employees are also entitled
to neonatal leave and unpaid leave to arrange or provide care for a dependant with a long-term care need.

Impact

Requires careful planning during pre-production risk mapping. The statutory protections vary by the type
of leave. Subjecting a team member to professional detriment, or sidelining them from key project milestones because they utilise statutory leave or request flexible hours, constitutes a breach of the law.

The Law

All workers (including those on irregular hours and short-term engagements) are entitled to be paid at least the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage, depending on their age. HMRC enforces compliance on behalf of the Fair Work Agency. Non-compliant employers can be named publicly.

Impact

Breaches can result in back-payment of arrears, financial penalties of up to 200% of underpaid wages. HMRC publishes a checklist to help determine whether someone is classified as a worker for these purposes.

The Law

The Fair Work Agency (FWA) is a new single enforcement body, consolidating employment agency standards, National Minimum Wage compliance and a new record keeping requirement for leave and pay entitlements. Additional FWA powers will come into force in the future.

Impact

The FWA significantly raises the compliance stakes across the screen sector by centralising enforcement under a single body with expanded investigatory powers. Businesses that historically treated NMW breaches, unpaid statutory pay, or agency worker violations as low-risk are now exposed to coordinated enforcement action rather than fragmented oversight. The FWA can investigate proactively (not merely respond to complaints) meaning systemic underpayment or exploitative engagement practices are more likely to be identified and pursued.