Article
The scripted TV working day and overtime under Pact and Bectu
The short answer. A scripted TV shooting day is paid as ten contracted hours, in one of three shapes: a standard day of ten hours plus an hour's lunch, a semi-continuous day of nine and a half hours plus thirty minutes, or a continuous day of nine hours with a twenty minute rest. Six departments are contracted for an extra hour. Overtime starts from your individual call once your contracted hours are done, at time and a half in 15 minute steps, never less than £35 an hour and never more than £70 or your hourly rate, whichever is greater.
If you come to television from commercials, the standard shooting day will look familiar: ten hours and an hour for lunch. Most of what sits around it does not. The day has three shapes, some departments are paid for an hour more than others, and overtime has a floor and a ceiling that commercials do not.
What follows is from the Pact and Bectu agreement for scripted TV, effective 1 January 2023, and the joint Pact and Bectu guidance issued on 8 December 2023. The budget bands make no difference to any of it.
What are the three kinds of shooting day?
The shooting day is paid as ten contracted hours and can be scheduled three ways, or any combination of them:
| Day | Shooting hours | Break | Overtime after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (SWD) | 10 | 1 hour unpaid lunch | 11 hours |
| Semi-continuous (SCWD) | 9.5 | 30 min unpaid lunch | 10 hours |
| Continuous (CWD) | 9 | 20 min rest, work carries on | 9 hours |
The agreement's own examples are 8am to 7pm, 8am to 6pm and 8am to 5pm. Overtime is counted from your individual call. The agreement's worked examples settle the standard day: eleven hours elapsed, lunch included. They are all standard days, so none of them demonstrates the semi-continuous or continuous day. The same elapsed reading gives ten and nine hours, and that is what TimeMachine uses, confirmed against practice rather than the text.
Non-shooting days, and non-shooting crew, are always contracted on a standard day. A head of department can ask for an individual to go on a non-shooting semi-continuous or continuous day, in exceptional circumstances only, where their work is not expected to go past their contracted hours, and with prior written approval from the line producer. A non-shooting continuous day does not incur overtime at all.
What is the additional contracted hour?
Six departments are contracted for ten plus one plus one during the shooting period: assistant directors, costume, hair and make-up (and prosthetics), locations, production, and script supervisors. The eleventh hour, the additional contracted hour, is:
- paid at your hourly rate, which for everyone is your basic daily rate divided by ten;
- guaranteed, even if you work fewer hours;
- not something that can be aggregated across the week;
- not overtime.
It moves your overtime point out by an hour, so a standard day runs twelve hours from your call before overtime starts. The agreement's example: a basic daily rate of £250, an hourly rate of £25, so a total daily rate of £275.
For every other department, the basic daily rate is deemed to include whatever prep and wrap time is customary to that department, so that you are ready at your individual call.
When does your day start?
At your individual call, which is either the unit call or the call time the call sheet gives you. Any individual call that differs from the unit call must be approved in writing in advance by the line producer.
The joint guidance says individual call times have replaced pre-calls. Work before the unit call is simply your call time on the call sheet, and it is part of your contracted hours, not an addition to them. On commercials an early start is paid on top of the day; on scripted TV it is part of it. The APA call times article has the commercials side.
So on the same unit, some crew can be in overtime while others are still inside their contracted hours. The guidance's example: unit call 08:00 on a standard day, crew member A on ten plus one plus one with a 07:30 call, crew member B on ten plus one with an 08:00 call. Thirty minutes of camera overtime is called at 19:00. For that half hour A is paid at single time, still inside contracted hours, and B at time and a half. If filming had wrapped early at 18:30 instead, both would be paid their full day rate and neither would have overtime.
Time worked before 06:00 at the producer's request is an early call. It is paid at an enhancement of half your hourly rate, time and a half in all, rounded up to the nearest 15 minutes. It is not overtime, not night work, and not capped by the maximum overtime rate.
How is overtime paid?
Overtime is the time you work beyond your total contracted hours for the day, at the producer's request or with prior approval. It is paid at time and a half of your hourly rate, subject to two limits:
- Minimum overtime rate: £35 an hour.
- Maximum overtime rate: £70 an hour, or your hourly rate at single time if that is greater.
Both are pro rata for part hours. Overtime accrues in 15 minute increments, and the agreement's worked examples round up: 1 hour 10 minutes is paid as 1 hour 15, and 25 minutes as 30.
The floor and ceiling do more work than they look as if they would:
| Basic daily rate | Hourly rate | Overtime rate |
|---|---|---|
| £200 | £20 | £35, the floor |
| £300 | £30 | £45 |
| £500 | £50 | £70, the ceiling |
| £800 | £80 | £80, single time |
Time and a half only applies in the middle. Below a daily rate of about £233 the floor lifts it. Above about £467 the £70 ceiling cuts it. Above £700 your hourly rate passes £70, the ceiling becomes your hourly rate at single time, and the half disappears altogether.
Double time, the enhanced overtime rate, replaces time and a half for overtime after 11pm, overtime on a UK bank holiday, and overtime on a seventh consecutive day, with the same floor and ceiling. Overtime on a sixth consecutive day is at the normal overtime rate. Sixth and seventh days have their own article.
Three more rules sit alongside:
- No overtime arises if you work fewer than your contracted hours, and a short day is not netted off against a long one.
- Each situation that gives rise to a payment at the overtime rate accrues separately and cannot be aggregated across the day.
- Nothing that would generate a payment may be worked unless the producer asks for it or approves it in advance.
What is called camera overtime?
Camera overtime can only be called once, as a set number of 15 minute increments, and no grace period applies. The guidance adds two things: if thirty minutes is called and the unit finishes within fifteen, the full thirty is paid; and if filming runs past what was called, crew can refuse the extra time without any detriment.
On a continuous day, camera overtime should not be scheduled at all. If it happens it should be unscheduled, and it is capped at two hours a working week. Anything beyond that has to be agreed locally, including the rate.
What else is paid at an enhanced rate?
| Payment | When | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Early call | Work before 06:00 | +0.5T, 1.5T in all |
| Broken turnaround | Work inside 11 hours of rest | Comp rest, or +0.5T, 1.5T in all |
| Night work | Scheduled shooting past 11pm | Weekly: comp rest, or +1T, 2T in all |
| Late lunch | Lunch later than 6h after unit call | Overtime rate, 15 min steps |
| Cut lunch | Lunch curtailed | Overtime rate, capped 1h SWD, 30 min SCWD |
Night work is added up across the week and capped at one working day. Broken turnaround time is rounded up to the nearest 15 minutes, and if compensatory rest is given for it, no payment is due. The late and cut lunch penalties are paid at the overtime rate, so the floor and ceiling apply to them. The agreement states outright that early call is not capped by the maximum overtime rate; it says nothing either way about broken turnaround and night work, and TimeMachine treats those as uncapped too, because the cap only reaches overtime and penalties paid at the overtime rate.
Does TimeMachine cover scripted TV?
Yes, in beta. Since version 2026.11 the app has a long form mode beside the APA one, built from the Pact/Bectu agreements: scripted TV in its four budget bands, and the major motion picture terms for film. You pick the agreement when you set up the job, and it stays fixed for the life of the job.
A scripted TV day goes in with its type, shoot, prep or pre-light, and its shape: standard, semi-continuous or continuous. You confirm when you set up the job whether you are on the additional contracted hour. The app starts the overtime clock from your individual call, rounds overtime up to 15 minutes, applies the floor and the ceiling, and switches to double time after 11pm, on a bank holiday or on a seventh day. Called camera overtime is billed to the window that was called. Overtime on a non-shooting continuous day is worked out and marked as not claimable under the clause, and continuous day camera overtime beyond the weekly cap is flagged for you to settle as the agreement says, locally.
The scripted TV agreement says nothing about rigging electricians. TimeMachine gives them the nine plus one day and the divide-by-nine hourly rate from the film agreement, by analogy.
It is a beta because a few readings of the agreements are still unconfirmed. The app flags them wherever they affect your money, so check your figures against your payslip, and send anything that looks wrong to the feedback address below. Nothing about the beta appears on your invoices or timesheets.
Is the scripted TV agreement still in force?
The agreement took effect on 1 January 2023 for a minimum of three years, to 1 January 2026. After that date either side can end it on six months' written notice. We have not been able to confirm its status since 1 January 2026, and TimeMachine's scripted TV mode is built on the 2023 agreement. The agreement also provides for Pact and Bectu to agree clarifications every six months; the only joint guidance reflected here is the December 2023 guidance. Your deal memo is the document that says which terms your production is using.
TimeMachine is an independent tool for UK film and television crew. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Advertising Producers Association (APA), Pact or Bectu. It references the publicly available APA Recommended Crew Terms and the Pact and Bectu agreements as a reference only. TimeMachine's long form mode is in beta. This article is general information, not legal or financial advice.