ECQC

International Game Developers Association

1 Employment Contract Quality of Life Certification (ECQC)

[edit] Employment Contract Quality of Life Certification (ECQC)

[edit] Overview

The IGDA is committed to its ongoing efforts to secure Quality of Life for Professional Game Developers. One of the ways we are actively pursuing that goal is through the IGDA Employment Contract QoL Certification Program.

The Employment Contract QoL Certification taskforce will develop a comprehensive set of core elements that reflect best employment practices for Studios in the Game Industry. These basic elements will then be translated into a set of Employment Contract provisions.

IGDA Affiliate Studios will then be able incorporate these model contract provisions into their Employment Agreement and then submit that Agreement to the IGDA for Certification. Once Certified the Studio will then be able to state that their employment contract is IGDA QoL Certified.

This Certification will provide a level of comfort to potential hires and also provide the Studio with a significant advantage in the industry talent pool.

To assure compliance, IGDA members will be able to confidentiality verify that the Agreement they are presented with is the version certified and report any inconsistencies between the terms of an IGDA Certified Employment Contract and the actual practices of the Studio to assure compliance.

[edit] Proposed Application Procedures and Scope

ECQC Standing Committee

The ECQC process will be managed by a standing committee formed by the Board of Directors of the IGDA which will include volunteer attorneys who will review the submitted ECQC contracts to assure compliance with the specific terms required for Certification The submitted Application for Certification will also be reviewed by the Committee in accordance with its internal procedures, prior to Certification of the Studio.

The Submission Process

Any IGDA affiliate Studio will be permitted to submit their employment contract for Certification to the IGDA ECQC. The contract will be accompanied by an Application for Certification and an Application processing fee in an amount determined by the ECQC Committee and approved by the IGDA Board of Directors. This fee will be used to cover the administrative costs of processing the Application and for the Attorney Review of the submitted Employment Contract.

Covered Employees

An ECQC Approved Contract presumptively applies to all employees of the studio, except officers and directors. When submitting a contract for ECQC review a studio may request additional classes of employees be excluded from the requirements of the Certified Employment Contract (CEC) and may make the consideration of its Employment Contract contingent on such exceptions. The ECQC Standing Committee will rule on any requested additional exempt classes of employees prior to submitting the Contract for review by one of the ECQC panel attorneys.

Implementation of Certified Employment Contract

Once the Employment Contract is Certified, all employees not specifically exempted from the scope of the application of the CEC must be employed under the terms of the CEC or the IGDA QoL certification may be revoked. Existing employees of the Studio will be required to be covered by the CEC within 60 days of Certification.

Changes to Certified Employment Contract

Any material changes to the Studio's CEC must be submitted to the ECQC for review and re-approval. An new Application Fee or some other re submission fee will apply to any resubmitted Employment Agreement at the discretion of the ECQC Committee. Changes made to the CEC not submitted to the ECQC for review could result in the decertification of the Studio, even if such changes are in compliance with ECQC standards, at the discretion of the ECQC Committee.

Employee Challenge Procedure

Any employee of a Certified Studio who is a member of the IGDA may bring a Challenge to the employment practice of a Certified Studio to the IGDA ECQC Standing Committee for a claimed digression by the Studio from the terms of the CEC in practice. The facts in such grievance will be submitted to Studio without revealing the name of the employee who submitted for a response and the ECQC standing committee will take whatever further action it deems necessary prior to ruling on any such challenge, including a warning or termination of the Studio's Certified Status. At all times the identity of the employee who submitted the challenge will remain confidential.

[edit] Timeline

The ECQC Taskforce will work through the top level issues that impact every developer's Quality of Life over the next several months. Then these top level issues will be codified into a set of employment contract provisions to be adopted by studios. Implementation procedures will also need to be developed.

We expect to launch the program Q4 2006 and implement the formal certification of Studios by GDC 2007.

[edit] Procedure and Application

The ECQC process will be made available to all affiliate Studios of the IGDA on a voluntary basis. The submission of an EC to the IGDA for certification will be confidential. So, the fact that a contract was not certified will remain confidential. The submission of an EC to the IGDA for certification will amount to an agreement by the Studio to use that contract form and to comply with its terms for the class of employees covered by the form.

The Taskforce is in the process of working to define the appropriate class(s) of developers who will be covered by the ECQC procedure.

[edit] Core Issues - QoL Employer Policies and Employee Benefits

[edit] Rights

[edit] Benefits

[edit] Time

[edit] Work Conditions

[edit] The Taskforce

Tom Buscaglia, The Game Attorney (Chair)
Dustin Clingman, President Zeitgeist Games, Game Instructor, Full Sail
Jason Dell Rocca, Executive Director, IGDA
Erin Hoffman a/k/a EA Spouse, Gamewatch.org and 1st Playable
Ben Mathis, Character Artist and Modeler, Neversoft Entertainment
Gaurav Mathur, Art Department Director, Factor 5
Marc Mencher, President, GameRecruiter.Com
Gina Neff, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Washington
Marty O'Donnell, Audio Director, Bungie Studios
Brian Reynolds, President, Big Huge Games
Jeffery Rose, Attorney
Richard Woods, Managing Director, Black Lantern Studios, Inc.

[edit] Exteral Resources/References

Links to external articles, web sites, books and so on...

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