Attendance, shift and leave process for Video agencies: planning for shoot calls, late wraps and quiet weeks
A video agency has no fixed day. A shoot call might be at five in the morning and an edit may run past midnight. Attendance and leave rules have to work with that rhythm.
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Share your requirementsWhy attendance, shift and leave process matters in video agencies
Office hours do not fit video work. A producer is on set from the morning call until the wrap, an editor sits late before delivery, and a runner may start before anyone else. Then there are quiet weeks when little is on. If the rules ignore this, people feel overworked in one month and unneeded in the next.
A workable process records who was on a shoot or in an edit, gives rest after very late days, plans leave around known peaks and uses quiet weeks to give time back. It does not need to be heavy. It needs to be known and applied the same way to every producer's projects.
How to set it up
1. Record call times and wrap times
Note start and end for each person on a shoot or edit. A simple sheet kept by the producer is enough.
2. Write a rest rule
State what happens after a very late wrap or an overnight edit, such as a later start. Apply it to staff and tell day-rate crew what to expect too.
3. Plan leave from the project calendar
Show shoots and delivery dates ahead, and ask people to book leave around them. Keep two weeks in the year clear of any new bookings if you can.
4. Give time back after peaks
Decide how extra hours earn time off or pay, and tell people in advance. Compensation rewards covers the pay side.
5. Review the log every month
Look at who worked the most late days and adjust the next month's plan so it is not always the same few.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask two editors how many nights they worked past midnight last month.
- Check whether any rest or comp-off rule is written down and whether producers apply it equally.
- Look at leave requests refused in the last quarter and the reasons given.
- Compare quiet weeks with busy ones and see whether anyone gets time back.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach attendance, shift and leave process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
That depends on the agency, but a written rest rule such as a later start or time back is fair. Choose something you can honour every time and tell the team.
Share the calendar early and let people book around known peaks. Refusals should rest on dates, not on who asks, and be explained.
They need clear terms for call time, wrap, meals and payment, but not the same leave rules. Put the terms in writing before the shoot.