Agency Up Front Fee Law
Under UK regulations, it is UNLAWFUL for an agency to charge you an upfront fee to join the agency.
This includes:
-Admin or sign-up fees
-Website/profile hosting charges
-"Registration" costs
-Compulsory headshot costs
-Any paid-for service such as classes or workshops
Agencies should only be making money when you do - through commission from paid work.
Charging a fee for representation is permitted by law BUT:
-Only after 30 days of being with the agency
-There must be a 30 day ‘cooling off’ period
(In that 30-day period the performer can cancel or withdraw from the contract without penalty and won’t have to make any payment)
-It cannot be a *condition* for joining the agency
-The agent must show the client any, and all, promotional material that the fee is being used to promote, and the client must be given the opportunity to give full sign off for what is posted on their website/directory
-The agent needs to evidence that the fees are for the purposes of promoting their client. The fees cannot include charging for Tagmin or other general business costs.
Also, an agency should not:
-Require you to join classes, workshops, or training programmes that they’re running in order to be considered for representation, or to continue being represented
-Represent you on the promise that you will get headshots/a showreel done only by the person they suggest (/likely take a cut from!)
-Tell you to pay to join an online platform, no matter how much information or opportunities to meet industry professionals you get access to
-Suddenly enforce you to pay for website hosting or profile maintenance on their platform without prior conversation or explanation
-Have children’s webpages and details public facing without password protection
Please report!
If you have experienced any of these unlawful activities, please report it to Equity and Spotlight. Compile as much ‘evidence' as you can (screenshots of emails or websites detailing fees) and make a report. If the agency is a member of The PMA or The AYPA you can report to them also.
You do not need to be an Equity member to report to them. Equity will only support actors who are members for help with legal cases or to reclaim money - but you do not need to be a member to make a report.
agents@equity.org.uk
Spotlight: agents@spotlight.com
Report online to EASI - the UK government body that enforces the Conduct of Employment Agencies. They investigate illegal practices by agents and can take enforcement action. Read more about The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate and make a complaint here.
or email
Can you be sure that your reports will be acted on? Unfortunately, no. BUT every report is helpful. You don’t know how many others have reported the same agency. It also helps push towards more regulation in the industry by showing how rife these problems are. You do not need to feel afraid or intimidated by reporting someone just because they seem to have more ‘power’ than you - charging a joining fee is not in line with the law and should not be overlooked.
Below is a screenshot from a huge agency charging a joining fee - where they insist that what they are doing is in keeping with the law. This is an abuse of power - they know that people will take what they say at face value because they’re ‘agents’. Don’t believe everything you read!!
This agency cites BERR regulations - a UK government department that was dissolved in 2009. Referencing BERR today is outdated and potentially misleading.
The current relevant authority for enforcement is the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EASI).
Charging a joining fee like this goes against EASI regulations.
Click here to visit the webpage for the full UK Government guidance on agency fees under the Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations
Written by Alexa Morden
Refer to our Education and Resources for more information on agency know-hows.