Dear members,

We advise all artists whose shows have been cancelled and who have no income for the following months to contact your local RAV for unemployment pay.

In order to help out our freelance members quickly, however, the board of the SBKV has decided to raise total sum of CHF 50’000 for loans.

SBKV members who are in financial need due to cancelled productions may apply for a single loan with no interest of max CHF 1’000.

Please send your application to sbkv@sbkv.com.

Your application should include a listing of the loss of your pay and the cancelled shows should be documented.

Also, do not forget your name, address and bank details.

Once the SBKV has transferred the loan to you, you may pay it back within one year. In extraordinary cases, the date of back-payment may be extended.

We are aware of the fact that a loan of CHF 1’000 might not suffice to save existances. But we do hope that it is a little support during rough times.

Stay safe and warm regards,

Salva Leutenegger

Has your performance, play or show been cancelled due to the corona virus? In collaboration with Sonart, the association for musicians, the SBKV kindly asks you to participate in a poll. At the moment, nothing garantees compensation payments to artists yet. But the more documented evidence we have, the better we can disclose the financial consequences of the government’s decisions regarding the corona crisis. Please let us know your situation and fill out the form here (available in German only). All data will be kept anonymous.

Dear SBKV members

This information is for freelance artists who enter into temporary contracts according to labour law.

Due to the special situation, please note that the following statements are only recommendations. In individual cases, the legal situation must be examined in detail.

Entitlement to continued payment of wages in the event of cancellations of ongoing productions (fixed-term employment contracts):

The termination of a temporary employment contract without notice is permitted for reasons that are not attributed to the fault of the employee; but only if the operational risk is not transferred to the employee in an inadmissible manner. According to Seco instructions, the risk lies with the employer in the event of a pandemic. The artists with temporary employment contracts are therefore entitled to continued payment of wages.

It also seems to prevail among legal experts that continued payment of wages is due in the case of temporary employment contracts even if a company has to close entirely due to government order.

Cancellation of planned productions:

If a planned production is cancelled at short notice so that the artists can no longer find other replacement engagements, we believe that the fee is still owed. Depending on the lead time, it is advisable to seek a settlement with the employer (at least partial fee payment).

As far as the deadline for cancellations subject to compensation is concerned, we cannot provide reliable information in this particular pandemic case. It will also depend on whether it was a short engagement (e.g. a single event) or a longer engagement (musical with a contract of 9 months). In the case of short commitments, we would scale the cancellation period that is still to be accepted without wage compensation to a few weeks. If a contract of several months is cancelled, a short-term cancellation leads to at least partial continued payment entitlement.

The affected members can contact the SBKV if they need advice; or they can contact their employers and express that with all due respect and sympathy for the current situation that they still expect to be payed the agreed fee.

Kind regards

Salva Leutenegger, Managing Director SBKV

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Save the Date

We invite you to join our reading and panel “Power and the abuse of power in the Performing Arts” on Monday March 9, 2020,  at Kulturmarkt Zürich.

This is a cooperation between the SBKV, t. Theaterschaffende Schweiz and Kulturmarkt Zürich.

For further information see the flyer below (in German only).

https://mailchi.mp/8cfc84832fc6/solidarittsaufruf-japan-frderbeitrge-fr-kulturschaffende-im-thurgau-sbkv-vergnstigungen-weiterbildungen

The Swiss Radio and Television SRF have interviewed the SBKV in their podcast #MeToo at the theater  with respect to our new code of conduct.  Managing director Salva Leutenegger explains the brochure and whom it adresses.

Read the article and listen to the interview here: https://www.srf.ch/kultur/buehne/metoo-im-theater-junge-schauspielerinnen-stehen-am-meisten-unter-druck

The podcast is in German only. Please scroll to the middle of the article in order to listen to it.