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Hollywood to Drop On-Set COVID-19 Safety Measures in May

The Return-to-Work agreement mandated social distancing measures and mask wearing, and provided sick pay for cast and crew.

The COVID-19 protocol pact between studio representatives and labor unions put in place in Sept. 2020 will come on an end on May 12, a day after the U.S. is set to end its dual national and public health emergencies. The Return-to-Work agreement, as it is known, mandated social distancing measures and mask wearing, and provided sick pay for cast and crew. “For the past three years, workers throughout the entertainment community have benefited from our robust protections exceeding the practices of many other industries,” an entertainment union coalition said in the statement. “With the public health emergency now ending and the expiration of the COVID-19 Safety Agreement, individual employers continue to be responsible for ensuring safe workplaces for their employees, but must seek separate agreement with the applicable joint unions before implementing any COVID safety protocols.” The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers added that any shoot with a mandatory vaccine policy put in place prior to May 12 would be able to enforce that policy until the end of production.