News - Big Brother or Big Boss?
18/06/09
The hit reality TV show Big Brother has returned to our screens but as the cameras rolled on launch night, were the flood gates opening for a surge of legal issues asks leading Aberdeen lawyer Lili Hunter.
A new array of hopefuls from all walks of life, varied cultures, religions and sexual preferences took their places in the house, ready to have their every move beamed into homes around the country having been carefully chosen by the programme makers to ensure interesting and eventful nightly viewing for an audience of millions.
The show is no stranger to controversy and a brush with the legal world came when the celebrity version of the show made headlines around the world with allegations of racism involving the late Jade Goody and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The international fallout from the incident and the banning of a subsequent Big Brother show led TV bosses to make significant changes to the rules of the show to protect housemates from bullying and harassment, including that of a racial nature.
So what might it mean for contestants of the UK’s ever-increasing number of reality TV shows if they were seen, in the eyes of the law, as employees of the show?
Well, their employment rights could include issues such as the European Working Time Directive and, depending on the final outcome of ongoing working time cases for offshore workers in Aberdeen, it could be conceded that Big Brother contestants are “working” 24 hours a days and, as such, could be entitled to compensatory rest and paid holidays.
In addition, Big Brother could be deemed to be in breach of minimum wage regulations by not paying contestants and departing housemates could claim notice pay and payment in lieu of the holiday time they accrued whilst in the house.
For Alan Sugar, it could mean claims for unfair dismissal for sacked contestants on The Apprentice and shows such as Hell’s Kitchen could find themselves in the midst of bullying and harassment allegations when tempers in the kitchen reach boiling point.
And all this may not be as far-fetched as it first seems. The BBC recently reported the decision of a French court which concluded that three reality TV contestants were, in fact, employees.
The trio were contestants of the French version of Temptation Islands and won compensation for overtime, being denied a holiday (although they were on a tropical island for the duration of the show), unfair dismissal and wrongful termination of contract.
According to the report, the French court ruled that taking part in the show constituted “employment” because: “tempting a person to the opposite sex requires concentration and attention.”