If media professionals are not afforded decent working conditions, how can they be free to continue their important work?
Independent journalism is a pillar of any free, fair and informed society, and journalists play a key role in the functioning of democracy. Through providing accurate information to the people, platforming the exchange of ideas, and holding the powerful to account, journalists uphold the foundation of democratic societies around the world.
According to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, a lack of basic working rights, arbitrary dismissals and precarious working conditions may expose media professionals to undue pressures that could lead to the departure from accepted journalistic ethics and standards. On the other hand, cuts to international funding for media development and the general state of the global economy, media organisations are increasingly relying more heavily on freelance relationships and cutting employment costs.
These strategies come with risks of breaching labour regulations, associated with heavy fines and even criminal charges, particularly for media organisations operating in exile.
So how can media organisations, especially those operating in exile, navigate complex employment laws and processes? How can they do so across multiple countries and unfamiliar legal jurisdictions?
Our latest series of guides aim to answer the above questions. The guides below address the complexities of employment rights and the unique challenges faced by media professionals operating in exile.
Through these easy-to-use guides we hope to empower media professionals and organisations to navigate the legal and practical intricacies of their work environment, safeguarding their rights and promoting sustainable and ethical journalism practices.
What do the guides cover?
This collection outlines the legal frameworks and best practices relevant to workers in the media industry. Each guide is dedicated to one of the five common European countries that media professionals in exile move to from all over the world: Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
The guides address key challenges faced by media workers, managers and employers when navigating employment law and regulations, including:
- Determining the correct contract type to hire or be hired on,
- Understanding the rights and obligations associated with different contract types,
- Knowing the steps to take in case of suspected contract or labour law breaches
- Navigating employment laws and tax obligations when the media organisation and individual workers are based in different countries.
How to use the guides
Depending on where you work and where your media organisation is based in, some of these guides might be more relevant than others.
These resources can be used by workers, managers, managing editors, and heads of newsrooms. A short guide has been provided below.
| Section colour | Most applicable to… |
|---|---|
| Green | Media organisations andthose who hire or manage individual workers and contractors. |
| Orange | Employees |
| Yellow | Independent contractors |
| Blue | All readers |
Each guide is dedicated to a specific country’s laws and best practices, guiding the reader from the stage of choosing the type of working relationship, through the hiring process, the rights, obligations and policies that need to be observed, to the steps to take in case of conflict.
Key insights
‘Hidden employment’, or when a worker is engaged as an independent contractor but in practice they perform work like an employee, carries with it significant risk for both the hiring company and the individual. In all five countries, media organisations face significant financial risks by engaging in hidden employment, with the possibility of criminal prosecution and ban on company activities in some cases.
If a media organisation and an individual worker are based in different countries, the parties can decide together which country’s laws govern the relationship. Their decision should be clearly stated in the contract. However, the chosen law cannot result in the employee being deprived of the highest level of protection. So, if a Swiss citizen is working in Germany and chose the Swiss labour law to govern their working relationship with their German employer, German dismissal protections will apply because it offers better protection than Swiss dismissal law.
In general, if a person resides in a country for more than 183 days in a financial year, they are considered a tax resident in that country. As a tax resident, you are required to pay taxes for all the income you earn (whether in that country or elsewhere) to the tax authorities of your country of residence and submit tax declarations there, regardless of the location of their employer.
In an employee-employer relationship, the employer is responsible for paying tax withholdings through its payroll system. This obligation cannot be shifted onto the employee. If an employee is based in a different EU country to where their employer is located, the employer should register as a ‘foreign employer’ with the tax authorities of the employee’s country of residence. This will help with withholding and paying payroll taxes on behalf of the employee.
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