Running a Co-op Agency

An actors’ co-operative agency is an Employment Agency*

* An Employment Agency provides “work-finding services” to “work-seekers”, for direct employment by a hirer. (Not to be confused with an Employment Business, which employs the work-seeker.) These definitions are quoted from The Conduct of Employment Agencies & Employment Business Regulations 2003.  All UK agents must comply with these regulations, and special rules apply to entertainment agents:

  • Only entertainment agencies may charge a fee to look for work. This fee may only be “a deduction from earnings from jobs the agency has arranged” (i.e., commission).
  • Actors’ earnings paid to an agency must be held in a separate, secure Clients’ Account.  
  • If an agency gets a fee from an actor’s employer, the agency may not charge the actor commission (e.g., some foreign employers pay 20% “agency fee” on top of the actor’s fees). 
  • If a fee is charged to join an agency, it must be fully refunded when the actor leaves the agency. If it is not refunded, it becomes an illegal fee for work-finding services. 
  • Fees for other agency services may be charged, but these must not be a pre-condition of representation. 
  • Terms of trade of an agency, including commission, must be agreed with the actor.

An easy-to-read guide is at         www.gov.uk/employment-agencies-and-businesses/overview 
The full legislation is at  www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/3319/contents/made

Before 2002, many co-ops charged an unrefundable joining fee. When the 2003 Regulations rendered this fee unlawful, the CPMA was created and obtained this assurance: “Co-operative agents in the entertainment sector will often require a stakeholder donation from work-seekers when they join the agency. This donation allows the work-seeker a stake in the co-operative and is returnable if the work-seeker leaves the agency. As such this donation is exempt from the provisions of Regulation 26(2) because it is not a fee for work-finding services and, therefore, such a payment can be requested before any work is found.”

The Trade Union & Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 also applies to employment agencies. It says union membership, or non-membership, may not be a condition for providing work-finding services.

Legal structures

The CPMA is not a regulatory body, but our member-agencies must accept our Code of Conduct (see About the CPMA), and be bona-fide co-ops: independent businesses, wholly owned and controlled by their members, who have an equal say in how the business is run, based on one member, one vote. https://www.uk.coop/resources/community-shares-handbook/2-society-legislation/21-bona-fide-co-operative-societies

Co-op agencies may be incorporated or unincorporated. Members of incorporated co-ops (limited company, Registered Society) are, in law, directors of the company.  All businesses need a governing document and submit annual accounts to the relevant authority. Some co-op agencies belong to the umbrella body for co-op businesses, Co-operatives UK, where you can find lots of information on legal structures, incorporation, governing documents and other matters. The CPMA has complimentary membership of Co-ops UK. Visit www.uk.coop/the-hive/setting-up-a-co-operative/overview-checklist   and https://www.uk.coop/start-new-co-op/start/choosing-your-legal-form