Working practices workbook

Understanding the Print Industry

Working Practices and Employment Contracts
Unit 11: Learning outcome 2

Name: Jonah Adshead

PROJECT BRIEF
Project Title
Unit(s)

Working practices and employment contracts
Understanding
Unit
Print Based
11
Tutor(s)
No
Industries

D Bakes

Aims
Understanding how the print industry works and the different ways people can be employed
within it is important for anyone hoping to get in to the industry.It will help you when you look
at what kind of job you would like in the industry.
Tasks/Notes
The British Print Industry Federation (BPIF) has a trade magazine called Inprint. They have approached you to
write an article about working practices in the Print Based Media Industries. You will need to complete task one
to allow you to carry out some research and gain an understanding before moving on to task 2 which will allow
you to show off your knowledge and compare and evaluative the issues.

Task 1: (P2, M2, D2)

You should explain the stages of print production, house style, impact of digital technology,
role of unions, outsourcing, subcontracting, franchising, apprenticeships, multi skilling, shift
work and flexibility.
You should also look at employment contract types such as permanent, temporary, full-time,
part-time, freelance and voluntary. You should also explain employment regulations, equal
opportunities and the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.
You need to explain the different terms and wherever possible use print industry examples to help explain your
points. This will allow you to access the higher grades.

Task 2: (P2, M2, D2)
You should prepare a response to the following question. Has digital technology had a positive or negative
impact on the print industry? You should use lots of examples to make your point.
This question will allow you to use your increasing knowledge of the print industry to comprehensively explain
working practices. You should be able to make links between digital technology and a range of other working
practices in order to prepare a high level response.
The criteria by which you will be assessed can be found over the page.
Merit students will give a good explanation of the different working practices and types of employment within the
print based media industries. They will use some specific examples from the industry.
Distinction students will give very detailed explanations of the different working practices and types of
employment within the print based media industries. . They will include lots of specific examples from the
industry. Distinction level work will be good enough to use to explain the print industry to someone new to the
field.

Project Title
Unit(s)

Structures and Job Roles
Understanding
Unit
Print Based
No
Industries

11

Tutor(s)

Dave Bakes

Assessment
In order to be assessed for this assignment you must complete the following work and
submit it by the required time. Below are the stages with the corresponding assessment
criteria as outlined in the unit specifications.
Task (s)

Grading Criteria

Pass

1

Merit

Distinction

P2describe working
practices and
employment contracts
in the print-based
mediaindustries with
some appropriate use
of subject terminology

M2explain working

D2comprehensively

practices and
employment contracts
in the print-based
media industries with
reference to detailed
illustrative examples
and with generally
correct use ofsubject
terminology

explain working
practices and
employment contracts in
theprint-based media
industries with
elucidated examples
and consistently using
subject terminology
correctly

Deadline/Schedule
The schedule is as follows:

Explain the 3 main stages of production in the print based industry
Stage 1: Name: Pre-Press
What happens during this stage:
During the pre-press stage the client decides the aim and content of the project and the
printing businessare employed to create it. Work is then produced, depending on the type
of publication being created copies will have to be written, layouts will have to be designed,
house styles will have to be decided and images will have to be created. To keep the
project going in the right direction lines of communication should be kept open between the
commissioning company and the printing company to ensure the development is to the
desired standard.
When the design team have finished the product and the client has seen and approved it,
plates, films and all products required for print are made. The product is then ready to be
printed.

Stage 2: Name: Press
The first thing that must happen in the Press stage is that the printers or printing press
must be set up for the work they are commissioned to do. In order to do this the correct
colours must be selected, printing plates set up and the printers given the correct
information for the desired size and weight of the paper about to be used.
To ensure everything has been set up correctly a small test run will be commenced and
the produced work will be quality tested. If the results are accepted, the main print run will
begin. During this main print run quality checks will be made every now and then to make
sure the operation is running smoothly.
After the printing, pages are cut to size and folded readying them for the Post-Press.

Stage 3: Name: Post-Press
In the Post-Press stage when magazines or newspapers are being prepared, the pages
will be arranged and put together in the correct order ready for binding. Magazines and
papers often have regional, special addition and subscriber versions that could be
completely different to the rest of the products or at least have a different cover. Because
of this these editions will need to be put together separately from the main production line.
When the products have been bound and are ready for sale they are packaged and sent.
They can be sent singularly to a subscriber or in large batches to a retailer such as a
supermarket or newsagents.

Explain the following terms:
House style: What is a house style and why is it used? Use a least one
example to help you explain.
A house style is a set of pre-determined rules that make sure a clear, consistent and
recognisable theme is used throughout a publication and throughout a series if a
publication has many editions. A design team who decide which colours, font and layout
they think will be aesthetically pleasing and attractive to a potential buyer usually create a
house style. House styles also make sure the spelling and grammar in a publication is
correct andconsistent and that writing styles are similar throughout.
The house style must also provide the correct feel for a publication, making it suited to the
specific target audience. For example The Times newspaper is mostly in black and white
and has a very formal font type, which is very rarely changed. Spelling and grammar is also
very proper and slang is never used (unless within speech marks usually to make a person
look a certain way).
Another newspaper for example The Daily Star has a very colourful house style with a
very flexible font type, the same is used for articles mostly but titles and subheadings are
very diverse. Language and spelling isn’t as consistent as within The Times with The Daily
Star regularly using slang and incorrect grammar.

Outsourcing: Explain the concept and the types of work outsourced by the
media industry. Using specific examples of companies who outsource or who
take on outsourced work will help improve your response.
Outsourcing is the decision to employ other often smaller companies to complete a piece
of work for them. It can be a much cheaper and much more efficient way of producing parts
of a publication, this is because giving the work to a smaller company that are specialised
in the job you have entrusted them with will allow your company to resume other jobs and
not have to deal with the outsourced work as well. Smaller companies have less people
working for them and may have better contacts within their specialised field of work
meaning costs are much lower.
One example of outsourcing is that companies may take photographs that their
photographers have taken and then instead of having an internal member of staff
retouching them they will send the images to another company that specialises in this type
of work. This is cheaper as it erases the need of having someone to retouch the images at
your company and the cost of using this company is usually cheaper than doing it
internally. It also eliminates the need to buy potentially expensive equipment that may only
be used rarely.

Subcontracting: What sort of processes can be subcontracted out and why is
it done? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this?
Subcontracting is used when a task within a project such as binding, die-cutting and
other speciality processes are needed to be completed. This can be good as it means
companies do not have to buy extra equipment that will not be used frequently and allows
revenue to be used much more effectively. It also saves time for the company and allows
other jobs to be concentrated on fully, this is good, especially when deadlines are involved.
The problem with large projects is that a company may have to subcontract out to a
number of different people, with this, the probability of one subcontractor not producing the
desired standard of work is higher.

Franchising: What media franchises are available? Why do people choose to
run franchises? If you can find out further information about start up costs or
support this will help improve your answers.
Franchising is when one company uses the business model of another firm, this is done
to utilise the good reputation of an already recognisable brand.
One example of a franchise within the print based media industry is Bluestone. Starting
prices to buy into this franchise are typically £20-£50,000 with 25% of the price required in
unencumbered funds and the remaining 75% allowed to be paid with a bank loan.
Bluestone charges a £5,000 one off fee and there is also a £5,000 charge for training that
they refund after completion of the training programme. Further on-going costs also apply,
ranging from 7-10% of monthly profits.
As the costs show, franchising is not a cheap option, but it allows you to run a business
relatively independently with the added support and security of a well-known brand.
Depending on the amount of work you are willing to put in yearly turnovers can range from
£100-£350,000.

Apprenticeship: Explain what an apprenticeship is and find an example of a
media related apprenticeship.
An apprenticeship is a way to learn your trade and gain qualifications whilst being in paid
employment. Most trades offer apprenticeships, as many employers prefer to train their
own staff allocating some time in college so their apprentices can gain recognisable
qualifications.
The print based media industry offers a very wide range of apprenticeships; one example
being a trainee/assistant photographer. Some apprenticeships can be entered without any
formal qualifications if potential is seen in the apprentice at an early stage. This would
make it harder to be accepted however, and the trainee/assistant photographer
apprenticeship states that a GCSE in a media or art subject or any further qualifications in,
for example, photography or photo imagine would be very useful.

Multi-skilling: What is multi-skilling and what are some of the advantages and
disadvantages of it?
Multi-skilling is when a company trains its employees in a number of related skills rather
than having a different person for each one. This saves money and often time as different
jobs can be completed immediately, one after the other instead of having to be handed
over to another member of staff by emailing, posting or personally delivering. Doing this
could waste valuable time, especially important where deadlines are concerned.
Although beneficial for a company multi-skilling can also be good for the employee as
their skill base is increased. This in turn means they could be seen as a better asset to a
company and therefore more employable. However multi-skilling can carry the danger that
an employee could be given too many responsibilities and not be able to complete the
workload given to them, or that they could be come “jacks of all, masters of none” and
complete all work satisfactorily but not to the desired high standard of a company.

Shift work: What is shift work and why is it sometimes required? What kind of
jobs might need to do this?
Shift work is used when a company needs to be run 24 hours a day. National regulations
state that no adult can be forced to work longer than 9.6 hours a day (if working a five day
week- www.gov.uk), and no one would be capable of working continuously for 24 hours
while maintaining a level of concentration and integrity expected by an employer. Shift work
is used to get around these factors and involves one person working for a certain amount
of hours before being replaced by another employee to ensure the service is covered.

Flexibility: How important is being flexible as a worker? Using specific
examples could improve your grade.
Flexibility is hugely important in many industries but is essential for the print based media
industry. You are often to work holidays, weekends, irregular shifts and very long hours if
required. With this industry including news broadcasting services, employees must be
prepared to go out and report or record events at any time, this could even include
travelling abroad. Because of this some employees constantly have one bag packed for hot
weather and one packed for cold weather to prepare themselves for the eventuality that
they will be jetted off almost anywhere on the planet at very short notice.

What role have unions played in the print industry?
Unions are there to ensure that rights of employees are maintained and the workplace is a
safe and secure environment free of discrimination and harassment.
Unions constantly fight the cause of the employee striving for better worker rights. This
includes reviewing wages, holiday entitlement and workplace safety. They ensure that
employers adhere to the employment regulations and acts such as the Employment
Equality (Age) Regulations (2006) and the Equal Opportunities Act (2010) and review said
acts are reviewed and updated as needed.
The Equal Opportunities Act (2010) is in place to make sure that discrimination, sexual
harassment and victimisation is identified and eliminated. Reporting suspected violations of
this act is encouraged and has increased, allowing the workplace environment to be made
safer.
Employment Equality (Age) Regulations (2006) ensure that prohibits employers
discriminating against an employer unreasonably because of their age. This means an
employee cannot be fired or not given a job/project because an employer thinks that they
are too old or too young, unless the nature of the job requires a certain age.

Explain the following types of employment and working patterns and their
advantages and disadvantages.
Permanent contract:
A permanent contract isn’t necessarily a job for life but is seen as continuing indefinitely.
An employee in a permanent working contract is usually only working for and being paid by
a one single company.
The benefits of permanent contracts are that it provides security. The employer will
always have staff and the employees will always have work

Temporary contract:
A temporary working contract is where an employee is given work for a set amount of
time. They aren’t as secure as permanent jobs but can suit some people because of the
flexibility they offer. Another advantage other than flexibility is that employers can utilise
this type of contract when they need some extra employees but only for a short amount of
time.
Disadvantages of this type of contract are that there is very little security for the
employee. Some temporary contracts are week to week so an employee may be unsure if
they will be jobless the next week.

Full-time:
An employee who works over 34 hours per week is recognised as being full-time.
The advantages of this to the employee would be the money and the regularity of the work.
Disadvantages could include the fact that the working week is full therefore there would
be time constraints on any extra work or freelance the individual may wish to be involved
in.

Part-time:
Part-time is anything from 1 regular hour per week to 34 hours per week.
The advantages of this working pattern include the free time it affords the employee to do
other work they may be involved in or take care of their family/household.
Disadvantages would be that they are paid less, due to the reduced hours they work.

Freelance:
Someone who choses to work freelancewill be requested to work on an assignment-byassignment basis. They could end up working for several different clients on this basis.
Disadvantages would be that the work might be sporadic at times; therefore there would
be times when there would be no regular payment. But, an advantage would be that they
have time to pursue other ventures, and have free time during the week.

Voluntary:
Someone wanting to gain experience within his or her chosen field and are willing to do
said work without being paid often undertakes voluntary work. It is frequently done for an
allotted period of time, i.e. a month or for an agreed amount of hours per week, i.e. every
Tuesday afternoon.
Disadvantages are that you are not paid and there is no guarantee of paid work following
it. Advantages are that it is invaluable in getting yourself into the spotlight of a prospective
employer and gives real hands on working knowledge of the chosen field.

Explain the following pieces of employment law:
You should note any previous acts which they build on, you should explain
who they apply to and what their purpose is. Giving examples of where they
have been applied will improve your grade.

Equal opportunities act 2010:
The Equal Opportunities Act 2010 protects people from discrimination in the workplace. It
encourages the reporting of discrimination so it can be identified and dealt with quicker and
more effectively.
This act replaced a large number of separate anti-discrimination laws such as the Sex
Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976 making the law much easier to
understand. This made the protection provided stronger in many situations.

Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006:
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 is a piece of secondary legislation that
prohibits age discrimination in employment and vocational training. They apply to all
individuals whether they are in work, seeking work, an employer or a provider of vocational
learning.
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations weresuperseded by the Equality Act in
2010.

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