SAG-AFTRA And Advertising Industry Extend Covid Safety Protocols Through March – Deadline 

SAG-AFTRA and the advertising industry’s Joint Policy Committee have agreed to extend their Covid testing and safety protocols until March 31. First adopted on April 16, 2021, the protocols had been set to expire on December 31.

“Since the protocols were implemented, they have proven extremely effective in protecting cast and crew from undue Covid risk in the workplace,” the union and the JPC said in a joint statement.

Read all the commercial protocols here.

The protocols, which apply “to all individuals present on a commercial covered under the 2019 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract,” include provisions for Covid testing during and prior to employment; once-a-day temperature checks; social distancing; employer-provided personal protective equipment, and the presence of an on-set Covid compliance monitor to enforce the protocols from crew-call until the wrap of production.

Unlike SAG-AFTRA’s film and TV protocols, the commercial protocols do not give employers the option to require Covid vaccinations as a condition of employment.