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Shaudi is a Seattle-based musician, theatre artist, writer and social media marketing specialist. She holds degrees from Berklee College of Music and the University of Washington School of Drama.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
Are you ready to cut through the tangled web of union payroll complexity?
Yes, paying union workers necessitates attention and compliance to a host of rules and regulations. But no, it doesn’t have to be a stressful process, and we’re going to break down why.
Moreover, Wrapbook is thrilled to announce our “Pay at Scale” feature that will support production accounting teams with accurately and easily paying their union workers. Read on to learn more!
Does this sound familiar? You’re trying to run your production payroll, but union compliance issues keep cropping up.
First, your team is working with multiple unions and guilds, each with its own set of unique regulations to track. Second, you can’t always rely on your knowledge from previous productions, since union agreements can change based on factors such as project budget and location.
To add to the complexity, you need to stay on top of union contracts, which are typically renegotiated every three years—meaning you may have to adjust payments and budgets mid-production.
The challenges of paying union workers correctly are enough to trip up even the most meticulous production accounting teams.
But noncompliance with union agreements, even when it stems from an innocent mistake like overlooking updated scale rates, can lead to serious penalties. It can also hurt your relationships with your crew and cast, who rely on their unions and guilds to help protect their livelihoods.
Because of the many considerations and challenges mentioned above, having the following questions top of mind can help in guiding your union payroll processes:
Again, union guidelines frequently update, and mistakes in applying rates can lead to costly errors. Each of the major unions, such as the DGA and SAG-AFTRA, provide current member rates. Wrapbook’s blog provides union rate updates as well.
Understand how union rules for overtime and penalties can affect your payroll and budget. Depending on the union or guild, you can find how these costs are defined via their websites. For instance, you can see on its site how IATSE 80 breaks down meal penalties. You can learn more about meal penalties and general overtime stipulations on the Wrapbook blog.
Ensure you collect all necessary paperwork from union members to avoid delays during payroll processing. Each union—such as the DGA and SAG—provides contact information should you want to directly connect with one of their reps to know what paperwork you must have for your project. Wrapbook’s in-house union experts can also help to ensure you have the paperwork you need for payroll.
Managing pension, health, and welfare contributions to meet union obligations both is mandatory and can potentially have a sizable impact on your production budget. Each of the union contracts offer comprehensive breakdowns of these costs, and you can typically find that they are publicly available online for viewing. Wrapbook’s payroll estimation tool can help you determine the overall cost of these expenses.
Be ready for union compliance checks by building a solid paper trail and ensuring accuracy in calculations. Again, each of the unions has reps who can walk you through what to expect should you undergo a compliance audit, and you can contact them via a variety of ways, including email and phone. Through our next-gen tech features, Wrapbook can also provide the necessary resources to support your compliance needs.
Wrapbook recognizes the need for next-gen technology in the production finance and accounting space.
That’s why we’re committed to continually enhancing our platform with fresh solutions—including our new “Pay at Scale” feature that helps you simplify and streamline your union payroll.
We recently spotlighted this tool on our “What’s New” page, a great site to bookmark to stay up-to-date on Wrapbook products and tools.
To use the “Pay at Scale” feature, just follow the below steps, and you’ll be paying union workers at scale with a single click in no time.
1. Ensure “Allow rates to be paid at scale” is enabled in “Company Settings > Worker Hiring.” Important to note: The company always maintains control over this decision/toggle. If you decide not to turn it on, you can still see the rate as of the hire date, but it won’t auto-adjust.
2. When you invite a worker to the project, select their union/guild and job title. Not seeing a particular guild or union in the dropdown? You can add it in “Settings” under “Edit Unions and Agreement Information.”
3. Next, under job dates and pay, select “Set as scale rate” for the amount.
That’s it! If the union or guild rate changes during production, Wrapbook will automatically adjust the worker’s pay rate to comply with the current union or guild rules.
No more time-draining manual research on current pay rates. No more worrying about missing a relevant union or guild rate increase. Wrapbook’s automation has your back.
Wondering how Wrapbook keeps the numbers perfectly up to date? Our platform is backed by labor experts and entertainment payroll pros. You’ll also have access to our in-house union experts if you have a union issue to talk through.
Stay ahead of union complexities with Wrapbook’s “Pay at Scale” feature, and keep your workflow stress-free and efficient with our seamless solutions.
If you want to see what else Wrapbook can do for your team, please get in touch! Our Sales Team would love to set up a demo for you.
