As the COVID pandemic has evolved over the last almost three years, the requirement for testing of crew and cast can also evolve from time to time. As some productions shift away from PCR testing in the workplace to at home Rapid Antigen Tests, your unions have been working hard to negotiate contract language that covers these at-home tests.

So, what do I need to know?

• The Employer must provide the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) to you in advance. If the Employer requires you to test with a RAT at home on a day that you are not otherwise working for that same employer, you will be paid a $20 stipend, if:
  a) you don’t need to leave your home to take, or pick up, or drop off the test, and
  b) you can take it any time during a 12 hour window designated by the employer.
• If the Employer requires you to do an at-home RAT test before you report to work that day, they can choose to pay either $20 or 3/10ths of an hour (18 minutes) at your hourly rate. Your work time doesn’t start until your calltime, so the time you take the test has no impact on turnaround or overtime.
• These are the same terms negotiated by the BC Council of Film Unions (Teamsters 155, IATSE 891, and ICG 669) and UBCP/ACTRA.
• This new stipend applies for at-home testing only. Nothing has changed for testing outside the home. If the Employer requires you to test in the workplace or otherwise outside your home on a day when you are not already working for them, the existing stipend payments apply: $100 for PAs and $160 for AAD-BKCs (plus fringes), and $250 for all other DGC BC crew.
• As with testing in the workplace, a positive test result will trigger Temporary COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave provisions. This agreement also gives us a full reset on the 10 days of paid sick leave, meaning if an employee has already used COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave, they have a full ten days available to them again.

Not every production will choose at home testing with RATs. But when they do, that means you won’t have to take time out of your day to get to and from your testing place. You’ll be able to do your test in your home – or while you’re working a day call on another production. No more needing to turn down work so you can be available for testing. This also marks a transition away from the more invasive and time-consuming testing that has been the industry standard since the original return to work in 2020. $20 or 18 minutes pay is fair compensation for a 15 minute test.

As always, let us know if you have any questions!