An email on 'Equality'

[JennieLee]

The message below has just landed in my inbox. Names and details have been changed/omitted. As a GC Feminist and freelancer who Tweets under her own name, I am wondering how to react. Should I feel threatened? Should I ignore it? My industry is very 'woke'.

"Dear ………,

I'm sending out below a reminder of our values and our policy on equality.
As a freelancer working for XYZ, as with any other type of work, you are acting as an ambassador for our company and our values, so it's important to always be aware of what these are. We are proud to work on a range of ……. produced by a diverse group of ……, and we know that one of the first things a producer does when they book in for …… is to search the web for credentials on their ….., often including a social media search. As such, we ask all ….. to please be mindful of your online presence (including social media), and to make it clear that all opinions are your own.

The values of XYZ are fully aligned with the principles of the Equality Act 2010, and as such, that it is unlawful to discriminate directly or indirectly or harass others because of the protected characteristics of: disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation or age.

We do reserve the right to terminate any relationship if we feel a ….. is misrepresenting our values, or otherwise not aligned with our core ethos, and we will not permit or tolerate situations where an individual is discriminated against or harassed because of a protected characteristic.

XYZ chooses only to engage with those who hold the same values regarding equality, and we value your continued support in delivering our services on this basis. If you have any questions about this, do contact the team – we’d be more than happy to chat this through.

Very best

Mary and the XYZ team

Mary Bloggs
Producer Relations. XYZ
pronouns: She/her"

Can the general public see if you have a contract with the company? Unless you have it splashed across your bio, I find it hard to accept you are an ambassador for anyone other than yourself.

Make sure you put the usual disclaimer in your bio (retweets/follows not an endorsement, all views are my own) and consider keeping a work account that is separate from your personal account.

I've had something similar from a media company for whom I occasionally produce content. In their case they wanted me to sign an agreement committing to their values. I called my commissioner and asked what to do and she said ignore it, it's bollocks. She's as GC as they come.

They've got the list of protected characteristics correct, that's wonderful.

I don't think there's anything to be worried about, as Thelnebriati (and the email!) say, make sure it's clear any opinions are your own.

In their case they wanted me to sign an agreement committing to their values

damn, I had public affirmations of belief pencilled in for next year. I guess the next step is daily chanting TWAW etc every morning (before the mandatory Calisthenics and the five minute hate)

That was looking OK until the pronoun nonsense in her signature!

I would separate personal and work especially on such a public space like twitter.

It sounds like an arse covering communication to me. They acknowledge thst it is illegal to discriminate against anyone with a protected characteristic (which thanks to Maya now includes GC belief). But they later say they will only engage with people with the same values.

The she/her signature helpfully points to the values that they see as important.

@JennieLee I recognise what this is -- obviously not going to say anything identifying on here but I have PM'd you! 😃

"As a freelancer working for XYZ, as with any other type of work, you are acting as an ambassador for our company and our values"

In what way is a freelancer an ambassador? That's just buggerdy bollocks!

A brand ambassador has a contract and is paid for representing that brand, and they can indeed be fired/contract terminated for conduct incompatible with the brand.

A freelancer is hired for a discrete piece of work and (except maybe for journalism?) is not acknowledged publicly as the creator of that piece of work.

Any company expecting a freelancer, who is not an employee, to conform to the sort of restraints that can be in a contract of employment, needs to start paying their freelancers for that conformity. Which of course, they won't.

Just to let you know that I replied to the email. If anyone wants a copy of my reply - names and identifying details redacted - then feel free to message me.