Article
Sixth and seventh days on scripted TV and film
The short answer. On both long form agreements a sixth consecutive day pays time and a half and a seventh pays double. On scripted TV the uplift is on your daily rate, a non-shooting sixth day needs prior written approval, and an eighth day in a row is prohibited. On film it is on the hours you actually work, with a minimum of eight hours if you are shooting. On both, a travel day does not count towards the run.
Commercials have no rule for this: nothing in the APA terms counts how many days in a row you have worked. It is one of the bigger differences between commercials and long form. Long form does count them, because long form is a run, and both Pact and Bectu agreements price the run rather than the day of the week.
What follows is from the Pact and Bectu agreement for scripted TV, effective 1 January 2023, with the joint guidance of 8 December 2023, and the Pact and Bectu terms for major motion pictures, as amended on 5 April 2021.
Do weekends pay more on long form?
Not in themselves. On scripted TV, weekend working is paid at your daily rate unless the sixth or seventh day rules apply. On film, Saturdays and Sundays are not premium days unless they are a sixth or seventh consecutive day worked. What matters is where the day falls in the run.
Scripted TV adds a notice rule: weekend working has to be scheduled at least two weeks ahead for you to be obliged to work it. With less notice you can decline, and the day is an unpaid rest day.
How are consecutive days counted?
By working days in a row. Travel days are the part to know:
- Scripted TV says only that travel days do not count for working out sixth and seventh consecutive days.
- Film is fuller. A day or night of travel under an official movement order does not reset the count, does not count towards it, and is not paid as a sixth or seventh day.
The film agreement's own example: five working days, Monday to Friday, a travel day on Saturday, and work on Sunday. The Sunday is paid as a sixth consecutive day. The travel day and the other five are paid at single time.
What does scripted TV pay?
| Day | Shooting | Non-shooting |
|---|---|---|
| 6th consecutive | 1.5T | Up to 6h worked: BDR at 1T. Over 6h: BDR at 1.5T. Written approval needed |
| 6th on a bank holiday | 2T | 2T |
| 7th consecutive | 2T | 2T |
| 8th consecutive | Prohibited | Prohibited |
A non-shooting sixth day has to be worked at the producer's request or with prior written approval from the producer's nominated representative, usually the line producer. Without that approval, the agreement says no payment is due. A seventh day needs the same request or approval, and producers will not schedule seven consecutive filming days for anyone.
The agreement's examples for a non-shooting sixth day: 9am to 2pm is paid as ten hours at single time, and 9am to 6pm as ten hours at time and a half. The full basic daily rate is paid either way; only the multiplier moves.
Overtime on a sixth day is at the normal overtime rate. On a seventh day it is double time. The scripted TV overtime article has the rates, the floor and the ceiling.
Eight consecutive days are strictly prohibited, and anyone who has worked seven in a row must take a rest day. The joint guidance adds that crew should be supported to avoid sixth and seventh days, through scheduling and the use of dailies, and that no eighth consecutive day is permitted under any circumstance.
On a basic daily rate of £250, a sixth shooting day pays £375 and a seventh £500. For the six departments on the additional contracted hour, TimeMachine applies the uplift to the daily rate including that hour, so £275 becomes £412.50 and £550. The agreement's definition of the daily rate supports that reading, but the sixth day clause does not spell it out.
What is an eleven day fortnight?
During the shoot, producers can schedule eleven day fortnights, up to a cap on the sixth days scheduled that way. The cap depends on the length of the shoot:
| Shoot weeks | Sixth days allowed |
|---|---|
| Up to 8 | 4 |
| 9 to 12 | 5 |
| 13 to 16 | 6 |
| 17 to 20 | 7 |
| 21 to 24 | 8 |
The table ends at 24 weeks with the words "and so on". Each sixth filming day beyond the cap carries a £100 premium, paid on top of the day's rate, including its sixth day uplift.
What does film pay?
| Day | Rate | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| 6th consecutive day or night | 1.5T for hours worked | 8h shooting, 6h non-shooting |
| 7th consecutive day | 2T for hours worked | 8h shooting, 6h non-shooting |
Overtime on a sixth day follows the normal overtime rules. On a seventh it is also double time. Every sixth and seventh day hourly rate is subject to the minimum camera overtime rate of £25 and capped at the maximum overtime rate of £81.82.
The £25 minimum is written for shooting crew in the overtime clause, and the sixth and seventh day clause applies it without repeating that limit, so whether non-shooting crew get it on a sixth day is unclear. TimeMachine applies it to shooting crew only.
A lighting technician on the April 2026 film rate of £441.92 a day has an hourly rate of £40.17. A sixth shooting day of eleven hours pays eleven hours at £60.26, £662.88, where an ordinary day pays £441.92. A sixth day cut to five hours still pays the eight hour minimum, £482.09. A seventh day of eleven hours pays £80.35 an hour, just under the cap, £883.84.
The film agreement does not address an eighth consecutive day, or a sixth or seventh day that falls on a bank holiday.
What does TimeMachine do?
Since version 2026.11 the app has a long form mode, in beta, built from these agreements. It counts the run for you, across week boundaries. A working day, whether shoot, prep or pre-light, adds to the run. A travel day holds it, neither adding nor breaking. A rest day or a day off breaks it, and so does a calendar day with nothing entered, so the run is only as complete as the days you have filled in.
On scripted TV, holding the run over a travel day is the app's reading. The agreement says travel days do not count, not that they leave the run intact, so TimeMachine borrows the film agreement's fuller wording.
A sixth or seventh day is flagged on the day and in the week view, and priced: on scripted TV as an uplift on the daily rate, split by hours for a non-shooting sixth day with a reminder that nothing is due without written approval; on film as hours at 1.5T or 2T with the minimum, capped. If your deal says otherwise, one tap takes the day back to a normal day rate.
Three things it does not do. It does not refuse an eighth day in a row: any day from the seventh on is priced at the seventh day rate, and on scripted TV that day should not happen at all. It does not work out the eleven day fortnight premium. And on scripted TV it prices a non-shooting sixth day that falls on a bank holiday by the non-shooting hours rule, rather than at the 2T the agreement puts in its place.
On film, where the terms are silent, a sixth or seventh consecutive day that falls on a bank holiday is priced as a sixth or seventh day. The bank holidays article has both cases.
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.
The film figures, including the £25 floor and £81.82 cap, date from the 5 April 2021 amendment, and we have not been able to confirm whether a later amendment has changed them.
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.