Ethicial for a company to solicit its employees for free voiceovers?

[RickRileyVoice]

Don't take this personally, but I'm glad that I do not work for you

I'm glad you don't work for me as well. Let me highlight the key word in my original sentence. 'HABIT'.

'hab·it ' - an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary

Those' type' of people, the 'HABITUAL' job description quoters, know their job description means leaving at 5, so they usually start 'prepping' to leave at 4:30. They know their job description means arriving at 9, so they do, but after coffee, conversing, and getting ready, are more likely to begin around 10:30, or sometimes just prior to going to lunch. And the attitude permeates throughout the day. I'm not saying that MaryElaine, is one, but that's the 'type' of person I was addressing in the statement you quoted. Honestly, I don't feel like paying someone for that 'type' of work ethic. If that offends you, so be it. I work hard for my money and choosing to spend it on that 'type' of employee is not a wise decision.

Generally speaking there are people who are interested in making a company run and people who are interested in making themselves comfortable. The difference is usually evidenced in the cars they drive, the homes they live in and amount of time they spend complaining about both during the day.

The original post said, "The company once employed professionals, but now wishes to save money. I declined, as I have done voice over work professionally in the past and feel it undermines my talent and skill to ask me to provide it without reimbursement."

That is a fairly ambiguous statement. We don't know her level of 'VO professionalism'. It would help if we did. Was her past work 'on hold' messages or National TV spots. If she was 'that' professional, why wasnt' she employed in the original VO work when they were employing professionals? If she was on the clock, making a decent wage at her 'normal' job, maybe for her level of VO talent, she would have been paid fairly. There have been a variety of scenarios painted here and we don't know that any of them are accurate.

My statement was an analogy to a 'work ethic' and nothing more. And the word 'habit' is well defined as 'until it has become almost involuntary'. As the President and Janitor and everything in between for my own company, I only find myself quoting my job description on rare occasions when I balk at doing a particular task. I then have to remind myself the description reads, "Get The Job Done".

[Greg Houser]

Really...? for a moment I thought you meant this:

nun-with-habit.jpg


Depending on the company (and it's common within Pharma and Defense), you can't go after those bookings even if you're a professional actor and working for them at the same time... my first position after college had that in the contract. While the obvious "double dipping" problem was what they were originally trying to avoid, it didn't take long for an unscrupulous manager or two to use it in an attempt to get people to do work that was outside of their position (graphic arts, visual editing, DB work..., picking up the manager's kids, picking up dry cleaning).

He used the same terminology as you, which is why I probably spoke as I did. He was the first person I ever had to fire, and you never forget that. For that I do apologize.

You've got two issues here. The first is a conflict of interest. The question comes down to who's interest is conflicted. If you're getting paid for a booking, would you intentionally accept a lower rate because the client simply doesn't want to spend it? If so, then you probably shouldn't be working in this industry to begin with. That's basically what the OP's dilemma is (if I read that correctly).

The second part of that is the client. It's one thing to pitch in and help the company be successful (in which case your opinion is perfectly valid), however in this case it sounds more about the company trying to squeeze a buck by cutting out the talent. Now here's the $64K question: "are the educational presentations internal or not?"

It didn't sound like they were, and if not then as both a professional voice talent and as a business professional, I've got to say that this is a bad choice.

Put another way, if the quality from the company which provided me a product suddenly went down (which is what's probably happening here), yet the company was continuing to charge me the same for a now inferior product, would you continue to use their services?

[RickRileyVoice]

The original post was three sentences. How you were able to get all that out of three sentences is beyond me. I'll bow out now. You win.

[jsgilbert]

A few years ago, a developer of children's toys and games that I had done some v.o. work for asked me if I would be interested in a producers position. As I did my due diligence, I discovered They weren't overly excited about me being a producer, but given that I would be expected to do tertiary voices in the various products at a producers rate, it would have been a lot easier and cheaper for them.

This from a company with millions and millions in sales and a well above profit margin.

The problem is that there's always another nickle to squeeze out and companies have no responsibility to their employees and vice versa.

[James Lorenz]

I got my start in voiceovers because I agreed to supply my voice for a few projects. I worked for a company that did audio-visual for live corporate events. We had a one-man production department and on occasion they would use my voice for small projects. I also offered to make announcements (voice of god) at some events, just a line here or there. One time we set up the sound system for a small tennis tournament and I took over the live commercial reads when the DJ they hired showed up very late.
I still freelance for the company and will occasionally do some VOG when asked. On a recent high-profile event, the producers realized they had missed recording an award recipient's name (Marv Albert did the others) so I did a quick on-site recording. It actually led to some animation VO work from the in-house production company.
You never know where your next job will come from so if I can step-up and help out, I usually try to do it. Some examples here are showing that companies are taking advantage of their employees. If I ever felt that, I would probably reconsider.

[FLZapped]

Here's the why not. The compensation isn't appropriate. You may be on the clock, getting $37.50 per hour to do an engineering job. You are then asked to be an actor and paid the same $37.50, but are doing a job that may actually have previously budgeted $100 - $500 per hour.

You are forgetting a few things. 1) Your company pays your Workman's Compensation. 2) Most companies pay for your health insurance. 3) Many companies subsidize your retirement in one way or another. Those add up to a huge amount of money you are not considering that an independent VO Artist must pay out of pocket. Besides, not everything is about money.

[Elaine]

Hello all! "MaryElaine" here. I was not able to remember my password, and got locked out. So, set up a new registration just to be able to log back in and thank you for the great discussion that followed my original question. (And, this has bothered me from the beginning, as I am a spelling nut: ETHICAL. That was a typo I never went back to correct.)

Since I posted, my company has made a couple of elearning projects using staff members who volunteered. None of these volunteers have voice over training or experience. None of these volunteers have acting degrees (as I do) nor have they ever participated in an industrial, a voice-over, a radio or television spot, or hosted a nationally syndicated television show (PM Magazine). I have done all of these things. None of these people have stage acting experience. I have been in dozens of plays and have won awards for some of my performances. This information is directed at the person who wondered what MY background was for doing this type of work.

The quality of these elearning modules is mixed. Some of the speaking voices are very good, but words are slurred and elided, much as we do in everyday speech. To this criticism, I was told "We want to make it sound natural, like real people talking." My response: that's all well and good, but a trained and talented actor can do that and pronounce the words correctly at the same time. And it's essential to do that because your customer in another country taking the course, or even someone in North America from another region than the 'actor,' may not understand the word if it's pronounced lazily.

I think I need to be more specific about my concern: it's not that I was being asked to do something for free that professionals do for a fee, it's that my company thinks this skillset does not require specific training, talent and experience. They do not recognize it as a profession in its own right. That REALLY PISSES ME OFF.

Thanks for all your comments. I really appreciate them.

[Elaine]

WorkERS Comp.

[Elaine]

I am sitting at my desk, listening to someone in the elearning department, talking to a voice over artist on the phone! She says that 'we've been using internal staff,' but it appears that's not working out. :) :) :) :) So, the reason for my starting this thread has been rendered moot. I am so pleased.

[Colin Campbell]

One issue I'd like to bring up in all of this is that as voice actors, we like to think we are paid for our talent, not for the time it takes to perform it.

Unfortunately, my job description includes voice-over.... oh well. I said "like to think."