VFX & Post Production Code of Practice

March 2026

 
This Code of Practice has been developed by the UK Screen Alliance through consultation with its member companies from the UK Visual Effects (VFX) and post-production sector. The Code is intended to reflect the existing good practices of employers in this sector and to recognise the shared standards to which they aspire.

The Code of Practice is written as a series of statements covering a variety of areas. As a stakeholder (client, employee*, or supplier) the Code will help you understand how a VFX or post company belonging to the UK Screen Alliance should behave towards you. These commitments supplement the information contained in an individual company’s contracts with its clients, employees and suppliers.

This Code will always be available in its most updated form at http://www.ukscreenalliance.co.uk, where a list of UK Screen’s members can also be found. 

1. General
   • The UK VFX and post-production sector has a global reputation for quality, innovation and talent in its work for the film, television and commercials industries. As companies providing services in this sector, we are committed to behaving fairly and responsibly towards our employees, clients, suppliers and peers and to maintaining and building upon this reputation.
   • Our actions will always conform to relevant UK law
   • We recognise the global and structural challenges facing the UK VFX and post- production sector and will endeavour to work collaboratively with our peers and with other industry bodies to ensure that the UK remains an attractive location for VFX and Post Production work. We believe that working together to promote sector growth is the most effective way to ensure job creation, investment in skills, infrastructure and R&D and a positive return to the UK economy.
   • We are committed to developing a highly skilled home-grown talent base within the UK. We will work with the education sector in schools, colleges and universities; and with the UK Government, ScreenSkills and local funding bodies to ensure that funding for skills is used in an effective and appropriate manner, ensuring that employees and new entrants are continually developed to meet the demands of our rapidly changing sector.
   • We will continue to support the Government’s tax relief programme for culturally British content/productions and will provide all assistance necessary to validate the integrity of claims.
   • Our Clients
   • We recognise that the security and confidentially of the work we manage is of the utmost importance to our clients and business.  We are committed to maintaining the highest level of integrity in the management of the work we create.  We will always ensure any third party or employee who comes into contact with sensitive material will comply with the regulations on confidentiality, copyright, piracy, and theft.   We establish, employ and continuously review our security procedures to ensure they are sufficient to the requirements of our clients.
   • Protection of our clients’ IP is extremely important to us.  We will ensure all material is sufficiently stored and data is backed up by vigorous data management procedures.  All content stored will have the appropriate security in place, such as encryptions and passwords.
   • To protect our clients and the work we carry out for them, we will ensure that we have the necessary insurance policies in place such as Employer’s Liability, General Liability and the necessary insurance that covers on-set activities.
   • We will endeavour at all times to maintain the high quality of work expected of the UK VFX and post-production sector. Although each company will follow its own research and development strategy, our overall aim as a sector is to continually improve upon the cutting edge VFX and post-production services provided to clients.
   • When planning a project, we will work closely with our client to ensure that the level of innovation matches the needs of the project and provides the best creative outcome for the available budget. We will maintain an ongoing creative dialogue throughout the duration of the project to ensure that the client’s vision is fully realised on budget and to deadline.
   • We will engage the appropriate talent to carry out each aspect of the work and ensure that that talent is properly supported.
   • During the project we will keep our clients informed at all times on progress of shots and on any necessary amends to shot delivery dates or costs that arise from agreed changes or additions to client requirements.
   • We recognise that some clients will spread work for a film or television project across a number of providers. If we are not the only contractor working on a project, we will maintain a close relationship with all other contractors involved in order to ensure delivery of the best possible work across the project.
   • We will assist our clients in obtaining advice on working in the UK and on accessing any appropriate tax reliefs.
2.  Our Employees*
   • As employers we commit to abiding by the requirements of UK Employment Law, Health and Safety legislation and all other relevant regulations.
   • We are committed to providing equal opportunities for all. We support initiatives within our own companies and on an industry-wide basis to encourage more equality, diversity, inclusion and social mobility in recruitment to our sector.   
   • We will not engage in any form of discrimination on the grounds of gender, pregnancy, maternity, colour, race, ethnic or national background, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, disability, political or religious beliefs or age.
   • We are committed to promoting a culture of respectfulness in the workplace and will not tolerate sexual harassment, racism or bullying. We endorse and promote the BFI/BAFTA Set of Principles on Bullying and Harassment. We will work with CIISA to uphold and improve the standards of behaviour in our industry.
   • We support initiatives to promote inclusive career development and to create a workforce at all levels of experience which reflects the gender balance and diverse composition of UK population.
   • We are committed to ensuring parity of pay between people of all genders performing equivalent job roles, with equivalent experience and level of responsibility. We will work both at a company level and by engaging with industry initiatives to reduce the Gender Pay Gap.
   • We recognise that the project –based nature of our work will lead to periods of increased workload from time to time.  For this reason, it is common practice to ask employees to opt out of the maximum working week as per the provisions of the Working Time Regulations. However, we will always respect an individual’s decision on this matter and, where necessary, will monitor employees’ working hours to ensure compliance with regulations.
   • Our sector is characterised by a culture of flexibility and trust in relation to hours worked.  Where increased workloads require work at weekends employees are compensated fairly via each company’s standard practices – e.g. payment, time off in lieu or other arrangements.  We will always try to accommodate employees who are not able to work late or at weekends when required.
   • We seek to ensure a healthy work-life balance for the wellbeing of our employees and the success of our creative output. We will work with our artists and producers to improve our processes and controls and to ensure good working practices.
   • We will aim to accommodate requests for flexible working wherever possible and practical.
   • We will monitor the employee’s working environment and provide support for an individual employee’s needs where appropriate by ensuring all employees have a desk assessment, providing them with the necessary equipment to make them comfortable at work and complying with health and safety legislation.
   • We will communicate with our employees on a frequent basis, utilising a mix of formal and informal tools and methods to ensure that information is disseminated in a timely and efficient manner, suited to our organisational structure and working practices.
   • We encourage and protect employees who report breaches of the terms of this code of practice and of any other obligation to which our business is required to adhere.  We welcome full and frank feedback from our employees in the belief that this will ultimately help to create better businesses. We will not discriminate against employees who question our processes and approach but will use their feedback in a constructive manner.
   • Our employment model reflects the project-based nature of VFX and post-production work. We will not always be in control of, or have much advance warning of, our clients’ plans and decisions. However, we will always endeavour to manage expectations by keeping our employees informed of any changes in the project schedules for current and forthcoming work and to give sufficient notice of any impact this will have on an individual’s contract.
   • Where quiet periods are anticipated between projects we will, wherever possible, work with our peers in the sector to identify opportunities, both locally and internationally, for employees whose contracts are coming to an end.
   • The continued development of talent is crucial to the success of our businesses and our sector. We will ensure that our employees are given opportunities to learn new skills and to carry out challenging work under the guidance of senior creative staff.
   • We do not expect, nor will we put pressure on, our new hires to break the terms of their contracts of employment with previous employers. In addition, we will, where reasonable, respect the commitment that potential new hires may have to finishing their project/task with their current employer.
   • We will continue to build upon and improve our policies, ensuring they are clearly communicated, fair and applied consistently across the business.  We ask that employees contribute to the development of our policies by inviting them to come forward with any questions, concerns or suggestions they may have.
3. Suppliers
   • We recognise the important contribution our suppliers make to the continuing success of our companies and of the UK VFX and post-production sector.  We will treat suppliers fairly and with integrity at all times.
   • We will endeavour to provide timely payment as agreed at the time of contract and will have available published terms of trade.
   • Where possible and practical we will work with, and provide feedback to, suppliers to help them improve their products and services. Where this collaboration involves the testing of proprietary software for third party vendors, we will enter into a mutual non-disclosure agreement as appropriate.
   • Respect for Intellectual Property rights is extremely important to us.  We will ensure that all software used is legitimate and authorized and will not engage in, nor tolerate, the making or using of unauthorized software copies under any circumstances. We will comply with all license or purchase terms regulating the use of any software.
   • The rules governing software will be made clear to all employees as part of the induction process. Employees working under a freelance agreement and provide their own equipment will be expected to use only authorized software and we will take effective measures to verify compliance with these standards.
4. The Wider Environment
   • The UK VFX and post-production sector comprises companies both large and small. As such each company’s approach to Corporate Social Responsibility will differ.
   • As a sector we aim to operate in the most energy efficient way possible and take steps towards reducing our carbon footprint.
   • We will reduce our impact on the environment by maximising the recycling of our waste materials and reducing the amount of non-bio-degradable consumable materials used by our companies.
   • We will assist our customers with their reporting of their production emissions and their applications for environmental certification.
   • We will behave responsibly in disposal of electronic equipment and comply with The Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Regulations 2006.
   • Where possible we will support the work of local organisations and charities within the creative sector.

 * For avoidance of doubt, the term ‘employee’ is defined as an individual employed on fixed term or permanent contract and salaried by PAYE.