Sacramento, CAA little-known California labor law has vaulted into the public conscience with the news that several casting companies have violated or have been accused of having violated the Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act. In sum, the issue stems from the charging of up-front fees to background actors, regardless of whether or not they are successful at finding work.
The Los Angeles Times revealed on May 19 that a prominent casting enterprise - Central Casting of Burbank - was issued a cease-and-desist order by the Attorney General's Office of the City of Los Angeles in concert with the California state labor commissioner.
A California labor code investigation, launched after some background actors (known popularly as "extras") complained, found that Central Casting had been charging $25 for what was identified as a fee tied to photographic and/or electronic images. The fee, presumably, was to recover the cost of processing in order to produce images necessary to promote a prospective background actor for potential employment.
However, the LA Times notes that according to authorities such a fee is in violation of California labor law, which prohibits any talent services enterprise from charging up-front fees for such things as the processing of images (photographic or electronic) in exchange for finding employment for a prospective "extra."
The Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act has been in force since January of last year. Through the Act, criminal charges have been filed against a handful of talent services alleging breaches of California state labor laws.
Labor Commissioner for the state of California Julie Su noted that her office was committed to enforcing California labor employment law in the state, regardless of sector. "This includes ensuring actors are not required to pay a fee which the labor law prohibits," Su said in a statement.
The director, Background Actors Department, of the Screen Actor's Guild, echoed her words. "We're very pleased the city attorney and state labor commissioner have taken this action, and we support them wholly in this effort," said Terri Becherer, in comments published May 19 in the Los Angeles Times.
Central Casting was not the only company targeted. Communiqués noting the violation and the California labor employment law statute to which the violation applies were forwarded to 13 other casting enterprises in Los Angeles. Other entities have been known to charge anywhere from $15 to $80 to background actors for services not within their purview to charge, under California labor law.