Paying your assistants on time
Photographer Mark Tucker brought to my attention the debate over on Heather Morton’s blog about paying your assistants on time. All I have to say is that I believe a photographer should always pay their assistants on the day of the shoot if they bring an invoice.
My policy is: If you bring an invoice, you get paid. End of story. None of this, “Oh, I’m going to wait till the client pays me and then I’ll pay you.”
There was one incident where my former rep handled the billing and paid my crew, and took the position mentioned above. I was really angry about it. Never again did I allow my assistants to wait for their money.
13 Responses to “Paying your assistants on time”
Nathan Blaney says:
March 3, 2010 at 11:42 am
I totally agree. I can’t imagine NOT paying an assistant, model, makeup artist or any other member of my team on the day they work…. it just doesn’t make any sense.
greg says:
March 3, 2010 at 11:52 am
The only issue is when a food stylist or prop stylist or anyone else needs to add up receipts to submit an invoice. But I still pay them as soon as possible when my studio manager checks the invoice and their math.
<fb:name linked="false" useyou="false" uid="705216114">Mark Tucker</fb:name> says:
March 3, 2010 at 1:31 pm
I guess we might as well start arguing here, whether Photo Assistants are PartTime Employees, or Independent Contractors. I wonder how many photographers reading this take out taxes on their part time Assistants?
greg says:
March 3, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Wasn’t there a list of questions that the state of TN gave you to determine whether or not your photo assistants were employees or contractors?
As I have mentioned in the past, according my reading of the law, and my legal council’s reading, a photo assistant on an advertising shoot that is next Thursday is not an employee. They can take another job, decide not to work with me etc. Yes, they have to be there at “Call” time and work with rented gear, but they are not considered employees.
In the case of a stock photography company where photographers show up every day from 9 to 5 and shoot stock with company cameras and gear and must follow work rules and be on time: these people are employees.
In another case of a PT worker, who works every Monday and Wednesday from 9 to 5: that person is an employee.
In the case of an assistant who shows up to the studio every day, regular hours, and is in charge of the photographer’s studio, orders gear, sends out gear for repair, goes on shoots, is in charge of hiring freelance assistants for shoots: that person is an employee.
I’m sure that many photographers have workers showing up to the their studio on a regular basis and pay them as contractors and they should be employees with taxes taken out of their paychecks.
Mark Tucker says:
March 3, 2010 at 4:24 pm
I don’t care which way it is; I just want to know what to do, to be in compliance. I will dig up that link to Twenty Questions, but the lingering question seems to be: How many questions do they have to answer YES to before they’re considered a part time employee? 1? 11? 20?
To me, an example of an Independent Contractor is a guy like the Orkin Guy. He shows up, probably unannounced, asks if he can spray, brings in his own tools, supplies his own poison, does his job at his own pace, unsupervised, and then when he’s done, he just leaves. He doesn’t ask you if it’s OK to leave, (like a photo assistant would). More later…
greg says:
March 3, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Mark,
There’s never going to be any clear, perfect answer. If my business got audited by the IRS, they would make a determination. You and your accountant choose to pay the payroll taxes of your assistants on photo shoots, so you don’t have to worry. I guess it’s like getting a model release: if you have one, you never have to worry. If you pay the taxes, perhaps you sleep better at night.
D.A.Wagner says:
March 6, 2010 at 11:01 am
NY State has that set of rules to be in compliance, yes, and it’s long and it’s a little convoluted, too. A great assistant comes to the job with tools, moves into the job seamlessly and works like a team player. A new, out of college assistant may come with nothing and be lost without direction. Nearly all photographers treat both as independent contractors, like the Orkin Guy. I think the key (according to the state of NY) is whether or not the individual hired comes to the job with a particular set of skills and tools. I have a simple contract assistants sign (unless they are incorporated), that indicates they have been hired for their particular contribution to the job, they bring their own tools (that can be an Olfa mat knife) and that they are responsible for all taxes.
In the end, we expect freelance assistants to contribute uniquely to the shoot. Whether or not they actually do to the letter of the law is a matter of semantics. Which, I’m sorry to say puts the photographer precariously in the middle. We’re the ones hiring.
Oh, and I always pay my assistants first. No matter whether they have an invoice or not. I’ve never paid an assistant on the spot who didn’t later send an invoice.
M. Tucker says:
March 6, 2010 at 2:36 pm
D.A.,
Thanks for the response. I think I understand what you’re saying, but maybe your shoots are different from mine. Could well be.
I try to imagine myself as some G-Man, and I’m standing there observing a still photo session. What I see, as a G-Man, is that the photo assistants show up to work with maybe a Leatherman on their belt, and in the old days, maybe a black Sharpie to mark up the 220, and they ask, “So what are we doing today?”. I see the Assistants using the photographer’s C-Stands, grip equipment, cameras, vehicles, computers, etc. They seem to be taking direction, (however general), from the photographer. The photographer tells them what time, and where, to show up in the morning. They might even ride to the location in the photographer’s grip truck. They might even drive the photographer’s grip truck. (And even if it’s Rental, it’s still in the photographer’s name, legally). The photographer also tells them what time the day is over.
Maybe I can understand Independent Contractor status moreso with MakeUp Artists. They show up with their own Kit and gear. When the shoot is over, they pretty much pack it up and wave goodbye; they don’t wait for the photographer to release them. Same with Clothing Sylists; they just wave goodbye, get in their car, and drive home.
So to me, the whole Photo Assistant thing just doesn’t pass The Smell Test. But who knows, maybe with some photographers, the do. Maybe they arrive at a location, and the photographer says, “Geev mee someting soft light”, and that’s all he says and walks away, and the assistants make it all happen. (But they’re still using someone else’s “tools”).
Not trying to be argumentative, I’m just trying to figure this out in a way that seems proper.
In the end, nobody wants to be on the short end of an Audit.
Thoughts?
D.A.Wagner says:
March 6, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Well, maybe I don’t quite say “geev mee someting soft light” as you’ve suggested, but I do have assistants who know me well enough that they just know what to do. As far as the law goes, it’s about expectations. Meaning, I hire assistants expecting they will make my day less complicated by knowing what I need before I do. If an assistant doesn’t quite manage to be one step ahead of me, does that make them employees and not independent contractors? I don’t know. That’s why I have then sign the agreement, because I think this is a gray area. If they didn’t fulfill all the requirements the law states, both the assistant and I are covered (or so I hope). They worked without supervision and brought their own tools and we have a document to prove it.
<fb:name linked="false" useyou="false" uid="770848885">Michelle Solomon</fb:name> says:
March 6, 2010 at 10:52 pm
It’s not about the tools or the direction or when they leave the set. in this case, it’s regularity of employment that matters. If the photo assistant works for you every day for 6 months, or every Mon and Wed for a year, or something like that, it’s a job. If he works for you a few times a year, and for lots of other photographers, and can turn you down for a job because he’s already booked that day, etc, it’s a gig. Think about it this way – employees have jobs, independent contractors have gigs.
Mark Tucker says:
March 6, 2010 at 11:38 pm
D.A. and Michelle,
I guess we can agree to disagree. I just can’t make it add up in my mind.
My assistants are not mind-readers; they don’t just walk out onto the set and know what to pull out of the truck unless I direct them. Key word here is “direct”. How would any assistant know the feeling if he/she was not directed?
As far as the Written Agreement that you speak of, I can’t see that holding water either, if it was actually challenged by an Audit. You and I could sit down and write up a Word Document that said I had three heads, or that I was your father, and both of us could sign it and shake hands, but just because we did that, it doesn’t make it true, or binding, or legal.
As far as the regularity thing, my position is, if challenged, they would simply deem these assistants who do not work regular days as “part time employees”, since they take direction, do not use their own tools, etc etc.
When my Orkin guy shows up, (I don’t actually have an Orkin guy, really), he shows up with his own Sprayer Thingie, and his own Liquid, and he does not work under my direction. I couldn’t direct him if I tried. He simply lets me know he’s here, and then heads to the kitchen, independent of anything I’m doing. When he’s done, he waves goodbye. That, to me, defines an Independent Contractor.
But again, we can disagree. I just want to be on the right side, if anybody ever challenged it. But again, finding “the right side” is proving to be very difficult; there are lots of grey areas. Thanks for writing back.
Cory says:
March 10, 2010 at 9:27 pm
I have been full time freelancing in Miami for just over a year now (coming right out of school), doing 90% teching/10% assisting. I don’t know if this spilt makes a difference in regards to how the client perceives your services and I haven’t ever worked in NYC or LA. If I tech, sometimes I use my own MacPro/laptop/display/mag-liner/ect. which then raises my rate. For me, it is an awesome job and I love everything about it. Having said that…
I have never been paid after the job has been completed and I have never brought an invoice on a job. For the most part, I work with photographers from NY, LA, and Europe shooting location in Miami. I either bill the photographer’s agent or the production company that hired me. Only about four times in the past year have I been personally paid by the photographer him/herself. These have been all editorials; again, not sure if this makes a difference. I get paid at 30 days which seems to be standard down here. I don’t bring an invoice because 100% of the time the jobs requires overtime. When shoots come to Miami they can’t leave without finishing the assignment, a 15 hour day is cheaper then extending the job till tomorrow. I won’t take a job if they don’t pay overtime, it’s not right knowing the RV, hair and makeup, and the stylist are getting paid and the rest of the crew gets shorted. When dealing with Europeans sometimes I try to get 50% up front, this doesn’t always work, but I ask anyway. The Italians have a bad reputation for paying out in 90 days or whenever they get around to it.
I am not sure if I should change the way I do business, I have just learned to live financially 30 days in the past and budget 30 in the future waiting for invoices to get paid. For me, there seems to be a difference between asking for $250 at the end of a one day shoot and asking for say $2000 after teching for five days. I would like to believe that the photographer honestly has to wait in-order to pay the entire crew. As long as everyone on the production is upfront about the payment timetable, I don’t worry about waiting those 30 days. There was one job where I was told in advance that it would be around 60 days till they could pay, I asked for half in 30 days and it worked out fine.
Miami is kinda small, if a photographer ends up not paying an assistant they get a bad reputation with everyone from modeling agencies to rental houses to RV drivers. Everyone gossips. I like to trust that I will get paid. In the end, it seems the price of being ethical is around $200 dollars a day which most should be able to afford.
MT says:
March 11, 2010 at 11:16 am
Mildly related story:
http://tinyurl.com/yay8o34