The press sector has a structure that differs from other sectors both in its working arrangements and in its legal position. Taking that difference into account, the legislator has regulated the employment relationships of journalists separately from the general employment legislation, in the Press Labour Act No. 5953. That Act is the instrument determining the working conditions, wages and social entitlements of press employees, the compensation claims arising where the employment contract comes to an end, and the other fundamental headings relating to the employment relationship.
Journalists falling within the scope of the Act are subject to provisions different from those applying to other employees as regards severance pay, notice periods, paid annual leave, remuneration for overtime and various social entitlements. This divergence makes it a practical necessity to know which entitlements a journalist enjoys and by which rules the employment relationship will be governed.
Below we address in outline the entitlements of journalists within the scope of the Press Labour Act, their working arrangements, the heads of compensation and the legal consequences arising when the employment relationship comes to an end.
The Press Labour Act and Its Scope
The Function of the Special Statute
Act No. 5953, which governs the working relationships of journalists engaged in the press sector, has the status of a special employment statute. The text lays down the journalist’s working conditions, wages and social entitlements, the formation and termination of the contract, and also the compensation claims arising from the employment relationship. The aim pursued is twofold: to secure the rights of press employees in working life and to introduce rules adapted to the particular conditions of the profession.
Employees Subject to the Act
The scope of the Act covers employees engaged in journalism at press organisations such as newspapers, magazines and news agencies. Those carrying out roles such as editor, photojournalist, writer and reporter are as a rule assessed within this framework. Administrative staff, technical services or accounting employees who are employed by a press organisation but do not engage in journalism, by contrast, mostly remain subject to the provisions of Labour Act No. 4857.
The Concept of Journalist under the Act
Definition of a Journalist
For the purposes of Act No. 5953, a journalist is a person who carries on journalistic activity in the nature of intellectual and artistic work at periodical publications — newspapers, magazines, news agencies and the like. Such persons contribute to informing the public through the production of news, the writing of articles, research or editorial work.
Persons Treated as Press Employees
Those working at press organisations as head of newsgathering, editor, columnist, photojournalist or reporter, and persons in similar positions, are as a rule regarded as journalists within the meaning of the Press Labour Act. What these employees have in common is that they contribute directly to the production of ideas and content within the framework of journalistic activity.
Employees Falling outside the Scope
Certain employees who are employed by a press organisation but who do not carry on journalistic activity fall outside the scope of the Act. Distribution staff, administrative officers, technical personnel and accounting staff may be given as examples of this group; in respect of those persons, Labour Act No. 4857 applies as a rule. The fact that they work at a press organisation does not bring them within the scope of the Press Labour Act so long as they do not carry on journalistic activity.
Working Conditions of Journalists
Working Time
Under the Act, a journalist’s daily working time is as a rule 8 hours. Although working hours may vary from time to time by the very nature of the profession, the employer must comply with the statutory limits on working time. The detail of working time may be determined by the employment contract or by workplace practice.
Rest Periods
Journalists benefit from rest breaks within their working time and from weekly rest. The employee must be afforded the opportunity to rest at certain intervals in order to recover physically and mentally. A journalist is also entitled to one weekly rest day per week at least. For journalists whose duties require continuous night work, the weekly rest is increased to two days.
Overtime
Work exceeding the daily working time counts as overtime. In such a case overtime pay must be made to the journalist within the framework of the principles laid down in the Act. By the nature of the profession, night shifts or additional work at times when the news agenda intensifies frequently arise; remuneration for such work must be provided either in the form of pay or of leave.
Wages and Social Entitlements
Payment of Wages
Under the Act, the employer is obliged to pay the journalist’s wages in full and on time. The amount of the wage is agreed in the employment contract and must be paid at regular intervals. Where payment is delayed or is not made at all, the journalist has various statutory entitlements and remedies available.
Remuneration for Overtime
Since work exceeding the daily period is characterised as overtime, the overtime pay corresponding to that work must be paid to the journalist. Ensuring that overtime is not left unremunerated constitutes a fundamental safeguard for the protection of the journalist’s labour.
Fringe Benefits
In addition to wages, journalists may benefit from fringe benefits such as bonuses, premiums, travel and meal allowances on the basis of workplace practice, a collective agreement or the provisions of an individual contract. These social entitlements, which improve working conditions, constitute one of the important components of the employment relationship.
The Right to Severance Pay
Conditions for the Right to Arise
Journalists working under Act No. 5953 become entitled to severance pay where certain conditions are satisfied. Under the provision in Article 6 of the Act, severance pay is calculated by reference to the date on which the journalist first entered the profession. Where the employment contract comes to an end for certain reasons after one year’s service has been completed, the journalist may assert this claim.
The principal situations in which the right to severance pay arises are as follows:
- Termination of the employment contract by the employer
- Termination of the contract by the journalist on just grounds, such as non-payment of wages or a worsening of working conditions
- A claim by the heirs of the journalist in the event of the journalist’s death
By contrast, where the journalist leaves employment without just cause, or where the employment contract is terminated by the employer for just cause, the right to severance pay may not arise.
Calculation of the Payment
Under the Press Labour Act, the severance pay payable to a journalist is calculated on the basis of one month’s gross wage for each year worked. Periods exceeding a year are also taken into account proportionately.
The journalist’s final gross wage is taken as the basis for the calculation. In addition, certain benefits provided on a regular basis may be assessed as forming part of the wage and included in the calculation. Bonuses of a continuing character, regularly paid premiums and certain benefits measurable in money may, for example, be reflected in that calculation.
Although the severance pay regime for journalists subject to Act No. 5953 runs parallel to the general provisions of employment law, it has been shaped with regard to the particular working conditions of the sector. It is therefore important, in making the calculation, to assess separately the concrete working conditions and the elements making up the wage.
Notice Periods and Notice Pay
Under the Act, where the employment contract is brought to an end the parties must observe certain notice periods. These periods are prescribed in order to prevent the employment relationship from being cut off abruptly and to allow the parties a reasonable time in which to find a new job or a new employee.
Act No. 5953 fixes the notice periods applicable where the employer terminates a journalist’s contract by reference to length of service:
- For journalists with less than five years’ service, the notice period is 1 month.
- For journalists who have worked for at least 5 years, that period is increased to 3 months.
If the employer brings the contract to an end without allowing these periods, it becomes liable to pay notice pay to the journalist. The amount of the payment is calculated on the wage corresponding to the notice period.
The obligation is not one-sided; the journalist too must observe the periods laid down in the Act when terminating the contract. Where the journalist leaves employment without observing those periods, the employer may be able to claim notice pay. It is therefore of great importance, in relationships subject to the Press Labour Act, that the termination process be conducted in accordance with the prescribed notice periods.
The Right to Paid Annual Leave
Journalists who complete a certain period of service become entitled to paid annual leave under Act No. 5953. This leave is among the fundamental entitlements afforded in order to enable the employee to rest and to preserve their professional productivity.
Leave periods differ according to length of service:
- For journalists who have attained 10 years’ or more service in the profession, annual leave is applied as a minimum of 6 weeks (42 days).
- Journalists who have completed one year are afforded a minimum of 4 weeks (28 days) of paid leave per year.
Throughout the leave, the journalist’s wage continues to be paid in full. It is not open to the employer to obstruct the exercise of this right or to make a deduction from the wage corresponding to the leave. Annual leave is as a rule taken while the employment relationship continues; the purpose is that the employee should actually rest.
Where days of leave remain unused when the contract comes to an end, their monetary equivalent is paid to the journalist under the head of annual leave pay. Rest periods that have been earned are in this way compensated by way of wages.
Calculating Overtime Pay
The conditions for overtime and the limits on working time are dealt with specifically in the text of Act No. 5953. By the nature of the profession the tempo may intensify periodically; at times when the news agenda quickens, additional work may become unavoidable. There is no legal possibility of leaving work of this character unremunerated.
The measure adopted by the Act is 8 hours of work per day. All work taking the journalist above that threshold counts as overtime, and remuneration for overtime is paid to the journalist separately from the normal wage. For work performed during daytime hours, payment is calculated on the hourly wage increased by 50 per cent; for work continued after 24.00, the hourly wage increased by one hundred per cent applies.
Grounds of Termination
The employment contract of a journalist subject to the Press Labour Act may, where the conditions arise, be brought to an end by the employer or by the journalist. Termination may take the form of termination for just cause or termination with notice. The parties’ rights and obligations and their compensation claims vary according to the type of termination.
Termination for Just Cause
Termination for just cause is the bringing of the contract to an end by one of the parties with immediate effect and without awaiting the notice period. Situations such as non-payment of wages, a worsening of working conditions, or the employer’s failure to perform its obligations under the contract may constitute a just cause of termination on the journalist’s side. The circumstances in which an employee may terminate the employment contract for just cause are addressed in detail in a separate note devoted to that subject.
The Act also specifically regulates one of the situations affording a journalist the possibility of terminating without awaiting the notice period: the occurrence of a manifest change in the editorial policy and character of the publication for which they work, of such a nature as to injure the journalist’s honour, reputation or moral interests generally. On the other hand, a serious breach by the journalist of their obligations under the contract, conduct disruptive of order at the workplace, or acts shaking the relationship of trust may likewise constitute a just cause of termination on the employer’s side. The circumstances in which an employer may exercise the right of termination for just cause form the subject of a separate note.
By contrast, where the employer has required the journalist to perform an act or engage in conduct capable of injuring their honour and reputation and the journalist has not complied with that request, the employer may not proceed to terminate without awaiting the notice period.
Where termination for just cause is in question, the parties are as a rule under no obligation to allow the notice period to run.
Termination with Notice
In this type of termination, the contract is brought to an end by one of the parties in compliance with the notice periods prescribed by the Act. If the employer is to bring a journalist’s contract to an end by this route, it must observe the notice periods tied to length of service.
Where a termination is effected without those periods being observed, payment of the corresponding notice pay arises. Acting in accordance with the termination procedures laid down in the Act when ending the employment relationship is therefore of equal importance to journalist and employer alike.
Independent Legal Assessment
In disputes under the Press Labour Act the first argument frequently concerns not the merits but the question of scope. It is possible for one of two people working at the same organisation to be subject to Act No. 5953 and the other to Act No. 4857, and that distinction changes every consequence from the calculation of severance pay to the notice period. Whether the work actually carried out counts as journalistic activity is determined by looking at the content of the work rather than at the job title.
The second critical heading is wage and working time records. The fact that overtime is remunerated at different rates according to whether it falls in the daytime or at night requires hour-by-hour records to be kept on the file. Likewise, the calculation of severance pay from the date of first entry into the profession makes it important that the journalist’s earlier employment be documented.
In a concrete dispute we recommend that the following points be given priority:
- Determining, by reference to the work actually carried out, whether the employee falls within the scope of Act No. 5953
- Establishing by documents the date of first entry into the profession and employment at earlier press organisations
- Recording night work separately and reflecting correctly in the calculation the difference between the 50 per cent and the hundred per cent uplift
- Having regard to the two-day weekly rest entitlement for journalists engaged in continuous night work
- Determining correctly, before termination, the notice period tied to length of service and giving notice in writing
- Calculating unused annual leave as at the date of termination on the basis of the minimum periods of four and six weeks
Independent Legal provides advisory and litigation services to employers and employees alike in disputes over sums due and compensation arising from the employment relationships of press employees.