Ex-Calendar Girls dancers to appeal after ERA finds they were contractors, not employees

Wednesday, 26 September 2018

Two former strippers plan to appeal a decision that they were not unjustifiably dismissed from strip club Calendar Girls. 

The women were independent contractors, not employees, and could not pursue a personal grievance against the Christchurch club's owning company Casino Bar Limited, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has determined.

Their complaint exposed a strict set of rules applied to the dancers controlling everything from when they removed clothing during a dance, to how they interacted with patrons and management – and an extensive fines system for breaches.

Jessica Clifford, 23, said on Wednesday she and Tineill Hamilton-Redmond would '100 per cent' appeal the decision because they could not afford the costs, which are reserved at this stage.

**READ MORE:

* Dunedin strip club manager calls for rethink of fines system

* Industry experts say strip club fines 'commonplace'

* 'Stripping was all I had': Former dancer exposes Calendar Girls' rules and fines**

She did not regret going public with her claim in May, but said the following months had been difficult.

She dropped out of a teacher training course after repeatedly being told no school would hire a former stripper and felt 'judgment' when trying to secure other work.

Harsh comments online had badly affected her: 'I don't leave the house anymore; I have the worst anxiety. I'm worried someone is going to see my face and recognise me.'

'At the end of the day, it's a position me and Tineill put ourselves into but you go into it with the mindset that it's going to be okay and I'm prepared … I hate how little care people can have [towards others].

'We don't care about the money side of things at the moment. We care about what we have had to go through.'

Clifford and Hamilton-Redmond, who were flatmates while working at Calendar Girls, failed to show up for a shift last September after an attempted break-in at their Christchurch home. 

In November, James Samson, who had a financial stake in Calendar Girls, docked Clifford's pay and told her she 'should not return to work as she had been 'fired' the previous night', the authority's decision said.

Hamilton-Redmond was also taken off the club's roster and later resigned, believing she was owed pay.

Samson said the judgment 'was always going to come out in our favour', and that the women may have been misled into thinking the club was 'an easy target'. Calendar Girls general manager Scott McCormick declined to comment.

'Our girls are well looked after, and our contractors and staff, but you can't keep all the people happy all the time,' Samson said.

FINES PROTECTED CLUB'S 'BRAND'

Clifford and Hamilton-Redmond said they were not given contracts when they started in January.

However, they did receive a 'profit share arrangement' document detailing the club's policies and procedures. They were not required to sign it.

That document was 'not a full contract' but stated that dancers were independent contractors, the ERA found.

It also detailed Calendar Girls' fines system: breaches of its rules were penalised with fines, ranging from $50 for missing a spot on stage to $2500 for dancing for a competitor or meeting a client outside of work.

Dancers who reported on other women for the latter two breaches were paid $500.

Lateness incurred a $100 fine, intoxication cost $75, there was a $200 fine and a 50 per cent tax on tips for 'rudeness to patrons or management', and a $50 fine for 'hanging around in changing rooms for [an] unacceptable amount of time'.

The ERA's judgment said the fines system, though it is common in strip clubs here and overseas, was at odds with an employment relationship.

In fact, 'such a system would be highly problematic and highly unusual in an employment relationship'.

However, it found the rules were 'essentially no different than a set of rules that may be imposed upon contractors working on a building site' and helped 'protect the 'brand' of both Calendar Girls and the dancers'.

'The nature of the industry, where male customers are drinking alcohol and being 'tantalised and teased' to spend fairly large sums of money, inevitably means that the behaviour of both the customers and of the dancers has to be contained.

'The rules are of particular help to new and inexperienced dancers, who need to learn quickly the best way to operate so as to enhance their chances to earn money.'

RISKY BUSINESS

The ERA said it said it was 'striking' that dancers could potentially earn nothing if customers chose not to tip.

Dancers' pay was partly determined by the redemption of accrued 'points': 'For example a dancer selling a $100 lap dance would receive 60 points and a one hour $650 penthouse session entitles the dancer to 325 points,' the decision said.

The women purchase their own lingerie, makeup and hair products, demonstrating that 'the dancers are their own 'product', which they own and have control over, and utilise to earn their living'.

'The arrangement can be seen as a co-dependent commercial relationship, albeit one where the dancers are junior partners in terms of their financial investment and reward.'

While they were integral to the business, that was not the same as being integrated into it, the ERA found. 

Dancers were not subject to formal disciplinary processes and are not eligible for holiday pay, sick pay or bereavement leave.

'Every dancer has her own set of unique charms which will attract some customers and not others. This is the nature of entertainment and is quite unlike a shop assistant, or a member of restaurant waiting staff, whose job is to sell the goods or services of their employer. '

The judgment notes the nature of Calendar Girls' business created risks and a lack of security for Clifford, Hamilton-Redmond and their co-workers, 'many of whom are young women, and some of whom will have limited alternative options open to them'.

'However, that cannot be the driver for finding that the applicants are employees,' it said.

'I believe that neither applicant directly addressed her mind to her employment status, and the applicants may not have been sure of the key differences between an employee and an independent contractor at the time they started working at Calendar Girls.'

​The ERA process had been 'nasty', Clifford said.

CALENDAR GIRLS' RULES FOR DANCERS:

- Personal hygiene and make-up should be 'immaculate' at all times

- Lingerie should match, clothes should 'imply sexiness and sensuality'

- While on stage the dancers are required to wear costumes, two-piece outfits or lingerie

- Dancers must have their top off by the end of the first song and their G-string off by the end of the second song or incur a $100 fine.

- Tips must be collected in the nude

- It is prohibited for dancers to give their phone numbers to customers or go home with them

- Dancers are prohibited from working at any other strip club or agency

- Drinking is permitted but drunkenness and the use of drugs are not

- Dancers are forbidden to discuss their income and are responsible for their own tax

- Dancers are forbidden to enter into any form of sexual or romantic relationship with any of the staff

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