The UK broadcasting union and producer trade body have come together for a rare joint statement to pledge the total elimination of “broken turnaround,” the practice of crew being required by their employer to return to work within less than 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period.
This breaking of UK working rights regulation was previously seen as a scourge on the TV industry but has been steadily improving since Bectu and Pact struck a new set of agreements in 2023, they said today.
The pair said they want to see the practice “eliminated altogether” and have invited BBC Studios, ITV and the Personal Managers’ Association, which represents agents, to a roundtable discussion later this month.
“Good planning and management can eliminate or reduce broken turnaround,” said the joint statement. “This is something which all in positions of responsibility can work together to achieve, from line producers to heads of department. For these reasons, Pact and Bectu have pledged to try and eliminate broken turnaround in scripted and unscripted productions. Pact and Bectu had a constructive first meeting about this topic on 3rd June 2025 and discussed setting strict boundaries on the use of broken turnaround to enable crew to maintain a healthier work/life balance.”
The pair also shared research that found there had been a circa-50% reduction in crew breaking turnaround on shows in the second, third and fourth budget bands over the past two years, coming after they signed a new set of agreements governing working conditions.
Those agreements were forged after fractious negotiations that sometimes spilled into the public domain so it is heartening to see the union and trade body co-operating closely on the pledge.
Bectu research from earlier this year found that around 40% of UK film and TV crew were frequently being asked to “break turnaround.”
This followed research from Bectu and Timewise that predicted production costs would rise by just 4% if the industry reduced its standard working day by two hours. At the time, the BBC said it was “considering” the findings and whether to implement them in some form.