Apprentice Digital Video Production Producer Job Application Letter

To whom it may concern,

I am writing this letter in response to your job advertisement regarding the position of digital video production producer. Unfortunately this advertisement seems to undergo a number of legal and ethical issues which I would like to present to your company.

Firstly, the advertisement provides extremely broad details regarding work hours and salary. The hours range of 10 - 45 hours is not specific enough for an employee, it is practically a zero hour contract. Also, as I mentioned, the salary of £15,000 - £35,000, similarly is not specific enough, however, presumably the salary depends on the amount of hours worked which again isn't an ethical response. Furthermore, the fact that your advertisement has specified that you are only looking for candidates under the age of 30, raises issues regarding The Equality Act (2006). This specification discriminates both male and females over the age of 30. A well known case of the same nature was in 2009 when former Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly was replaced due to being 'too old' and went on to win her age discrimination case against the BBC. This case reflects the age discrimination used in your advertisement, and breaches The Equality Act, an act which was created to legally protect employees. If a 'good reason can be shown for the differential treatment' then the situation would be different however in regards to the job you are advertising there is not. All of the listed requirements on the advertisement do not specifically require a person under the age of 30 therefore meaning Flipside Media are vulnerable to receive a number of complaints or even taken to court under the grounds of age discrimination. 

Another breach of The Equality Act (2006) within your job advertisement comes just one line below, stating that the applicants 'religious views' must be Christian. This not only is a discrimination of beliefs and religious views but also should not have an effect on your working capability. This means that people with Christian views will be favorable for the job rather than those without, even if the non-Christian is a better worker? This is a prime example of unfair recruitment and discrimination. The issue also goes against the Code of Practice which states information regarding 'religious or other beliefs of a similar nature' is sensitive and should be breached. Flipside Media therefore could face investigation of The Equal Opportunity Act (2010) who 'encourage the identification and elimination of discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation and their causes, and to promote and facilitate the progressive realisation of equality'.

The job advertisement also includes an exclusivity clause which states 'Please note that if successful, you must not apply for other positions of this nature', meaning that if the applicant is successful they must only work for Flipside Media within the media industry, the advertisement clearly states 'of this nature', does this mean the successful applicant can apply for a job within a different nature of industry? I have also noticed that there is no confidentiality clause mentioned within the job advertisement. Although this is optional, this can be risky as this can be used as an advantage to competitors, exposing company secrets or private information if employees have not signed a confidentiality clause.

I would also like to raise the issue of the proposed task you have set to the applicants for the job role. The applicants are asked to plan 'plan and produce a short documentary', however due to the applicants not yet being under the liability of the company they are therefore not protected by the company. This could result in the breaching of legal issues if the applicant is not aware of certain procedures when creating a media product. An example of this could be including 'a popular music soundtrack' which you have basically told the applicants to do which is completely unethical as well as illegal due to copyright, also the fact that you are suggesting using a popular music track could portray the topic in a positive way. There is also the issue of appropriate pre-production paper for the short documentary which should be carried out, for example risk assessments and adult releases. This therefore means that £20 will be an insignificant amount. Furthermore, an employee has rights which can overrule an employer meaning they can actually apply for other jobs but this could lead to the loss of their current job. This is where Trade Unions come into the situation, the role of Trade Unions is to protect the rights and interests of employees.

I have also noticed a number of other problems regarding the brief within your advertisement. Firstly the use of such a sensitive and controversial subejct I believe could be a bad move for the business and will most likely prove extremely difficult for an unexperienced or even experienced media person. Furthermore, the topic of 'rape' is in no way appropriate for young audiences, especially with the use of re-enactments and dramatizations. I do agree however that this is something young people should learn and be aware of, although I strongly believe that this is not the right way to do it. The Obscene Publications Act is a legislation against showing explicit material to young people, this act will be broken by your business unless you change this immedietly. Also, although the documentary will not show adult sexual material, it will however show sexual violence through the use of re-enactments etc.

I believe the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) would be likely to give this proposed documentary a 15 due to its innapropriate subject and the scenes of sexual re-enactments. Due to this, the conclusion is self explanatory, that the documentary is not appropriate for Flipside Media's target audience.
I hope you take these legal and ethical issues into account and take the time to improve them.

Many Thanks,
George Cross