Tips on Getting Paid Late Fees on Late Paychecks from Your Stand-In Work

If you are a SAG-AFTRA stand-in, one of the frustrations is getting paid late by a production.

That can mean threats to your ability to pay rent on time, bills on time, or just cause anxiety about whether your money will arrive at all.

But did you know SAG-AFTRA contracts dictate what constitutes a late payment, and that late payments can trigger late fees?

In order to get paid any late fees, in all likelihood, you will have to file a claim (aka a “grievance”) with SAG-AFTRA. But late fees are a lesser-known way to make a bit more money off of your stand-in job than just your paycheck.

Here are some tips for getting paid late fees on your next stand-in job.

Know Your Contracts

Most SAG-AFTRA stand-ins work under the collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) known as the Theatrical Agreement (TA) or the Television Agreement.

Under these contracts, stand-ins are classified as “background actors.”

Where you are working dictates what part of these CBAs dictates the “payment requirements” and when a payment is considered “late.”

• If you are working in the Los Angeles Zone, Schedule X, Part I, Section 46, “Payment Requirements,” is where you look (pp. 701-702).
• If you are working in the New York Zone, Schedule X, Part II, Section 47, “Payment Requirements,” is where you look (p. 772).

You can find these sections very deep in the online version of the 2014 TA, which is available online here. Concentrate on the first paragraph as it pertains to defining the period for timely and untimely payment.

In this post, we will focus on late fees for stand-ins under the above CBAs. Typically, New Media agreements will refers to the terms of these agreements, hopefully without any changes to the above sections. The Netflix Agreement is very much like the above agreements’ terms with respect to late fees, except it has different holidays, which may affect the calculation of late fees.

Ben’s Note!

Some stand-ins work under the Network Television Code, which has different terms for late payments, while other stand-ins work under the Commercials Contract, which also has different terms. Look into those contracts for their payment requirements as the information herein does not apply to late fees on those jobs. (You may have to read the base agreement and any late memoranda of agreement to understand those contracts’ late-payment terms. Many SAG-AFTRA contracts are online here. You can also contact SAG-AFTRA for their insights around late fees under different contracts.)

Stand-Ins in the Los Angeles Zone

For Los Angeles Zone stand-ins, the language reads (bolding added):

So, for stand-ins in the Los Angeles Zone, in most circumstances:

• Their paychecks must be postmarked by the Thursday after the work week.
• A paycheck postmarked after the Thursday after the work week is “late,” and so it triggers late payment charges (late fees) of $3/day.

For stand-ins in the Los Angeles Zone, there is a cap on late fees: 25 days, i.e., $75 per late paycheck.

Saturdays, Sundays, and “holidays” as dictated by the CBA do not count for calculating late fees. (The contractual holidays are New Year’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.)

For example, if you stand in on a Monday, production has until Thursday of the next week to postmark your paycheck, and after then, your paycheck is late.

• If it is postmarked on the Friday of the next week, your paycheck is late by 1 day (if Friday is not a contractual holiday). You would be due $3.
• If your paycheck is postmarked on the Monday after then, your paycheck is late by 2 days (if no contractual holidays are at play). You would be due $6.
• Etc., on up to 25 late days, i.e., $75 in late fees.

Stand-Ins in the New York Zone

For New York Zone stand-ins, the language reads (bolding added):

So, for stand-ins in the New York Zone, in most circumstances:

• Their paychecks must be postmarked by 72 hours (“3 days”) after the work day.
• A paycheck postmarked after 72 hours after the work day is “late,” and so it triggers late payment charges (late fees) of $3/day.

For stand-ins in the New York Zone, there is no cap on late fees.

Saturdays, Sundays, and “holidays” as dictated by the CBA do not count for calculating late fees. (The contractual holidays are New Year’s Day, Presidents’ Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.)

For example, if you stand in on a Monday, production has until Thursday of the current week (i.e., 3 days later) to postmark your paycheck, and after then, your paycheck is late.

• If it is postmarked on the Friday of the current week, your paycheck is late by 1 day (if it is not a contractual holiday). You would be due $3.
• If your paycheck is postmarked on the Monday after then, your paycheck is late by 2 days (if no contractual holidays are at play). You would be due $6.
• Etc., with no contractual upper limit to the amount of late fees you can receive for the late paycheck.

SAG-AFTRA New York Has Refused to Enforce the 72-Hour Pay Window in the CBAs

Anecdotally, SAG-AFTRA New York has refused to enforce or even honor as current the 72-hour pay window for paying stand-ins — even though the language is part of the current version of the agreements.

Instead, it appears SAG-AFTRA New York will only pursue claims for late fees when a paycheck is postmarked after the Friday after the work week.

There is a lot to say on this point, but we will not discuss that in this post.

In the New York Zone, be prepared to find SAG-AFTRA New York rejecting your late-fee claims that calculate late fees per the 72-hour window given in the contract language.

If SAG-AFTRA does reject your claim, save the correspondence.

How to File a Claim for Late Fees

While it may seem that the contracts require producers to automatically pay you late fees when they postmark your checks late, that does not typically happen. Instead, you typically have to file a claim inquiry with SAG-AFTRA for your late fees.

Admittedly, filing a claim for late fees is a pain. Sometimes you are filing a claim for what may seem like a measly $3 or so. But it’s important to remember that this is money you are owed for untimely payment, under a contract the producer has signed.

If you stand in regularly in a project, late fees can add up to a significant amount of money. If you are organized and care to enforce your contractually due late fees, you may find yourself significantly rewarded for investing the time in preparing your late-fee claim.

Steps for Filing a Winning Late-Fee Claim

Here are some basic steps that Stand-In Central sees as important for winning your claim for late fees. Keep in mind SAG-AFTRA may not need all of this information, but the following information has helped move along the process and win late-fee claims:

1. When you receive your paycheck, mark the day you received the check in the mail on the envelope. This will help in making sure your late-fee claim is timely. In general, you have 30 days from knowledge of the facts of your issue in order to file a claim with SAG-AFTRA. The date you receive your check is a reasonable measure for gauging when you had knowledge of the fact your paycheck was late, so you reasonably have 30 days from that date to file a late-fee claim.
2. Take note of the postmark date on your paycheck’s envelope. If a postmark is present, it will be in black ink. If a postmark is not present, look at the date of the postage stamp. If the postage stamp is in pink ink, SAG-AFTRA will tend to honor its encircled date as an alternate measure of lateness. If there is only a standard stamp and no postmark, or no stamp at all (it has happened!), there is no measure of paycheck lateness, so you’ll have to make a case based on the date you received the check or maybe your work date as ways to argue for a late fee.
3. Count the number of late days. You do this by the measures in the contract language above. In the event you are a stand-in in the New York Zone, it may help to make two different counts: Count the days late after the 72-hour pay window, and also count the days late after the Friday after the work week. Often you will be due late fees under the 72-hour pay window but not due late fees under the Friday pay window. You can file a claim in either event, but do not be surprised SAG-AFTRA rejects any claims for late fees pursuant to the 72-hour pay window. Again, there is a lot to say on this point, but not here.
4. Fill out a claim inquiry form detailing the date you received the paycheck, its postmark date (or pink stamp’s date if there is no postmark), and the number of late days.
5. Calculate how much in late fees you believe you are due and write it in the claim inquiry form. If you do not have enough space to write in the form, attach another page.
6. Attach photographs of your paystubs, along with their envelopes showing the date received and postmark.
7. Sign the claim inquiry form.
8. Email the claim inquiry form to the SAG-AFTRA business representative for the production. (The production show sheets available on the SAG-AFTRA website after logging in may dictate who at SAG-AFTRA is handling the production. If that is not known, ask a SAG-AFTRA field rep or contact your SAG-AFTRA local office).
9. Wait a few days for a response. You may be given a claim number.
10. Check in every once and awhile with the SAG-AFTRA business representative for an update. It can take months for SAG-AFTRA to settle your grievance for late fees. Keep a log of your open claims and your correspondence with the business rep so you don’t forget about them.
11. If you receive a late-fee payment in the mail, notify the SAG-AFTRA business representative. If the payment settles your claim, let the rep know so the rep can close the claim. However, if it does not settle the claim, let the rep know why the claim is not yet settled.

Key Points

Some of the key points around late-fee claims are that you have 30 days from knowledge of the facts of your issue, so don’t wait a month or more to file your claim for late fees.

While you can submit several claims for late fees within one claim inquiry form, make sure you received within the last 30 days all of the late checks. Otherwise, for any checked received more than 30 days prior, your claim for late fees may be considered untimely, so you might not be able to recover late fees around those paychecks.

The postmark is the main measure for lateness. When there is no postmark, usually the date on the stamp in pink ink on your envelope will serve as an alternate measure for lateness.

If you are a stand-in in the New York Zone, SAG-AFTRA New York appears to refuse to enforce the contract language obligating producers to postmark your checks by 72 hours after the work day before triggering late fees. Why that is the case is for discussion another time.

If You Decide to Go Another Route

Understandably, some stand-ins whose paychecks are late may contact the production or the production’s payroll company about the late paycheck.

While these are fine options, and while these options may get you paid sooner especially if you have not received a paycheck, keep in mind you are paying SAG-AFTRA with your dues money for them to adjust your grievances. If you go to production or if you go to the payroll company, you are doing so on your time, when in reality you are paying for SAG-AFTRA to do this for you.

Furthermore, many stand-ins may not realize they are due late fees if they are paid late, and going to production or payroll may prevent them from understanding their contractual rights to late fees. Of course, you can go to production or payroll and later submit a claim inquiry form to SAG-AFTRA over late payment, but typically a stand-in going to production or payroll over a late payment is not also going to the union for help getting late fees.

Stand-In Central generally discourages going to a payroll company for help in receiving a late paycheck. Instead, Stand-In Central recommends contacting SAG-AFTRA about the late paycheck. Alternately, Stand-In Central may advise going to the production about a late paycheck. This is because the production is signed to a SAG-AFTRA contract and will likely have an interest in making sure it is compliant with that contract. A payroll company is not signed to a SAG-AFTRA contract, and so its conduct may be outside the ability of SAG-AFTRA to constrain.

Hundreds of Dollars in Late Fees May Await You!

If you are regularly working on a job as a SAG-AFTRA stand-in, understand the exact measures when your paychecks are late. If you are victim of a production or a payroll company paying you very late, then make sure to file a claim with SAG-AFTRA for late fees. They could really add up over the course of your job!

What do you do when your paychecks are late on your stand-in job? Post your insights in the comments below!