eNCA freelance anchors bring you the news without written contracts – report

eNews Channel Africa (eNCA), the Hyde Park-based 24-hour news channel, is reportedly making freelance newsreaders work month to month without the comfort of a signed contract.

The Star reports the newsreaders, majority of them allocated 9pm-to-midnight and weekend shifts, are petrified of complaining about their “toxic” work environment for fear of being removed from the roster.

The publication relied on a two-month probe into the freelancers’ working conditions, who have worked at the station for two years. They are said to have expressed anxiety, as they simply never knew when the station would cut them off. One of the anchors spoke of inconsistent salary rates, an issue a written contract could have clarified.

“If you complain, you are removed from the roster. And there is no contract that you can go back to and say, but I have a contract to work this number of shifts a month,” the anonymous anchor is quoted as having said.

They were supposedly supported by another anchor facing similar career uncertainty. “Talks to provide contracts for all freelances are under way, but that has been the status quo for quite some time. I am not sure what is causing the delay,” they said.

A third anchor is reported to have corroborated the others’ claims, but indicated head of anchors Sally Burdett had promised them contracts.

The chief operating officer for eMedia Investments, eNCA’s controlling company, Mark Rosin, refused to say if the anchors had contracts, and pointed out the company would prefer not to comment on the matter publicly.

“That said, certain freelancers who provide ad-hoc services are paid on the provision of proper invoices, and any freelancer, or any employee, for that matter, who feels he or she has been properly accommodated in that regard is free to approach our human resources department and the matter will be attended to,” Rosin said.

http:////

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.