Advice and information for new Equity Deputies.

A guide to being an Equity Deputy

Congratulations on being elected Equity Deputy. By being an Equity Deputy you are undertaking a vital role for your company and your union.

What is an Equity Deputy?

As an Equity Deputy (or Dep) you are your union’s representative in your workplace. Depending on the size and circumstances you may have one Deputy for your workplace or a small team. Deputies can be elected from the cast and/or stage management teams.

As an Equity Deputy you play a key role in building Equity’s workplace power, and in supporting your colleagues with any issues they face at work.

Deputies encourage others in their company to become members or become more active in the union’s work to collectively improve the industry for everyone. You will also be Equity staff’s first point of contact for any information we need to disseminate to company members, and members will be likely to come to you in the first instance with problems or queries. Your Equity Official will be on hand to answer queries and support you with this.


Who do I represent?

Deputies represent the performers and stage management in your company. Equity represents members in the creative team, but as the structure of their work is so different to performers and stage managers and they work on different agreements, they can access support from their union in different ways.

We would appreciate you handing out any materials relating to the creative team, which are contained in your Dep’s Pack, and signposting the support of the Equity Directors and Designers Committee who can be contacted on directorsanddesigners@equity.org.uk 

If a Director or Designer comes to you with a query, you can always refer them to the committee or to your Equity Official.

The most exciting part of being a Dep has been seeing mine and the Deps’ actions creating real life improvements to our company’s day to day life. Being able to confidently challenge our managers when they attempt to schedule something outside of our agreement, or hold meetings with the producers to discuss company-wide issues. It’s hugely helped me create a bond with my fellow Deps & company, and that level of trust is so valuable not just when it comes to Equity, but to the daily running of the shows.


What training is available?

Training

Deputy training in person or via Zoom will be available at intervals 
throughout the year for current Deputies or those interested in becoming one in the future.
 
However, you do not need to have attended the training to become a Deputy and your Equity Official will be on hand to support you.


Your Equity Official

Your Equity Official is the Equity staff member who is responsible for the part of the sector or geographical area in which you are working. They are there to support you. You can contact your Official if you need any assistance, for example when an issue arises that you are not sure how to resolve, or if you were unable to resolve an issue through your company manager.

Resources for deputies

If you were elected Deputy during a visit from an Equity Official you may have been given a Dep’s Pack containing a company list and a copy of this booklet, as well as a copy of the agreement you are working on and any other materials relating to your current engagement or Equity’s current campaigning activity. Copies of these materials are available online on the Equity website and you can request additional hard copies of materials to hand out to members or display in your workplace.


How do I become an Equity Deputy?

To become an Equity Deputy, you need to be elected by the other Equity 
members in your workplace. It is best to elect a Deputy as early as possible, ideally during rehearsals, so that they are in place if members encounter any issues during the run and so that Equity staff can send any important updates to you.

Often the Equity Deputy is elected during the Equity visit. However, you don’t need to wait for a staff member to visit you to elect your Dep. Members in your workplace are welcome to elect a Deputy at any time and you can email us on deputies@equity.org.uk to let us know.


Can I be an Equity Deputy on a non-Equity contract?

Yes. Equity is able to support you when you are working on a non-Equity 
contract and you can become an Equity Deputy for your workplace and raise issues collectively. If you do not have a visit to your company booked in from an Equity Official but would like one, please contact us on deputies@equity.org.uk to arrange this.

Our producers were wrongly claiming we were ‘self-employed’ and therefore not entitled to holiday pay. Although there was no official Equity meeting arranged, I got together with other members in the cast and volunteered as the Dep. I also encourage non-members to join. I contacted Equity for advice about our legal rights and used this to go back to the employer and demand holiday pay. This resulted in all ‘self-employed’ performers and stage managers winning backdated holiday pay for the entire engagement.


I’m a Deputy, where do I start?

  • Introduce yourself as Deputy to those who need to know, such as the Company Manager. If any company members were not at the visit make sure they know that you are the Deputy as well.

  • On a big show, it’s useful to be able to spread the workload across a team of Deputies, and it is always good to have Deputies from the cast and stage management to ensure everybody in the company is represented.

  • If you are working on a Commercial Tour or in the West End, your Equity Official may also put you in touch with current Deputies on other shows, so you can support each other and discuss issues collectively.

  • Establish an Equity presence in your workplace. You can put up posters notifying members who your Equity Official is (email if you don’t already have a copy of this), and hand out any information or campaigning materials that we gave to you at the visit. A WhatsApp group for members in the company has been useful for some Deputies. You could even think about holding meetings or events for Equity members to demonstrate that 
    Equity is active in the company, and your Official can help you to plan or arrange this.

  • Get to know the agreement or contract you are working on. If you are working on an industry standard agreement, a digest document with key points and FAQs is available, and may have been included in the Dep’s Pack. A good working knowledge of your agreement or contract will help when dealing with management and advising members in your company.

  • As active members, Deputies are the most effective people to grow the union’s membership by recruiting non-members to Equity, as well as making sure current members remain in the union. The higher Equity’s membership levels are, the more powerful the union and its members are in driving change. Your Equity Official may have left membership forms or letters for non-members with you at the visit. Make sure to hand these out, or to 
    encourage people to join online using the invitation number on the form. It is best to do this as quickly as possible after the visit, so that it is fresh in people’s minds.

  • Have regular conversations with Equity members in the company to make sure you are aware of any issues and members know how to get involved with union activity inside your workplace and across the sector. If you achieve changes in the workplace, make sure you share these with others in your company so they can see the impact of the union in their workplace.

The last time I was Deputy on a commercial tour contract, my fellow Deputy and I managed to get a better rate for our movement captain. Our movement captain seemed to have an unusual amount of responsibilities that weren’t laid out for him before he accepted the role. Because we had been added to a group chat with Deps on other tours, we were able to get an idea what movement captains’ responsibilities were and how much they were getting paid on other shows to inform what we were asking our producers for.


Understanding the company list

Your Equity Official will provide you with a company list to help show you who you need to recruit into the union. Next to each person’s name will be a unique Equity number (e.g. M01234567, E02345678), with the letter at the start indicating their current membership status. 

You can use the table below to determine the membership status of those you are working with, and who needs to join. It’s important to note that student members – codes A & S – are not covered by the full protections of the union in the workplace. Student membership is insufficient for working professionals, so they will need to upgrade their membership.

Membership Letter Category Full Protection?
A Accredited Student Member No
B Applicant Yes
C Child Member Yes
E Terminated No
F Resigned No
G Direct Debit Rejoin Yes
H Honourable Withdrawal  No
I Long Service Member Yes
J Ex-Graduate Member No
K Honorary Life Member Yes
L Life Member Yes
M Member Yes
N Non-Member No
P Accredited Graduate Member Yes
S Student Member No
T Graduate Member Yes
X Ex-Student Member No
Y Retired Member No

You should also look out for any members on the company list who are marked ‘out of benefit’ with a red flag (see example below). This means they have gone three months without paying their subs and are therefore not protected by the union’s insurance policies, or able to be supported by Equity staff for legal or financial claims. Any out of benefit members will need to contact Equity to renew.

Cast Member Professional Name Membership Expiry Date Direct Debit? Out of Benefit?
M00364566 Sophie Anderson 30/11/2024    
M00554372 Isabella Martinez 31/03/2023  
S00484243 Benjamin Thompson 31/07/2024  

It is easy for non-members to join or re-join online. If you are working on an Equity contract, people can also input the number next to their name on the company list when joining to speed up the process, as they won’t have to demonstrate proof of earnings.

Link to join or rejoin

More resources