Stop the freelance rip-off

THE NATIONAL Union of Journalists is calling on all freelances in the UK to respond to a government consultation on late payments and poor payment practices: “it's time for urgent change.” The consultation closes on Thursday 23 October 2025. The NUJ is also calling on freelances to write to their MPs.

Image © NUJ

Assistant Freelance Organiser Tim Dawson wrote in the Press Gazette: &ldquot;This represents the best opportunity for a generation to right the terms of trade in our industry and should be seized upon by any and every journalist who has ever waited overlong to be paid for work.&rdquot;

To assist you, the NUJ has published a template response for you to enliven with your own experiences. It also provides a tool to help you write to your Member of Parliament.

A key point is that late payment legislation should be strengthened - which appears to be what the government had in mind when if launched the consultation. It should also take this opportunity to deal with these scourges:,/p?

• “payment on publication” policies - which can mean freelances waiting months and leaves the amount at the whim of the client;
• “kill fees” offered when editors have over-commissioned, changed their minds, or (especially) taken over a previous commissioning editor's job; and
• so-called “implicit contracts” that are supposed to be binding having been published in a shady nook of a website.

Please do make time to push government to act.

© Mike Holderness

Stop the freelance rip-off nuj.org.uk

Late payments consultation .gov.uk