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A Dunedin strip club has defended a new contract that includes a “defective performance” clause, which asks workers to redo a dance for free if a performance is considered “defective”.
Stilettos Revue Bar has told staff if there is a “defect” in performances, dancers will need to remedythe defect or “redo the services at no additional cost to the company”, or the company can “arrange for the performance of the necessary remedial work and recover any costs from the contractor”.
Stripper advocacy group Fired Up Stilettos’ organiser Bianca Beebe labelled the clause in the contract – which has been viewed by the Herald – as “coercive”.
Beebe said the clause is problematic because it has the potential to expose dancers to exploitation.
Stilettos Revue Bar in Dunedin has been criticised over a new clause in the contracts of its dancers. Photo / Ben Tomsett
However, club management says the clause is yet to be invoked and is unaware that any staff member has issues with it.
Stilettos Revue Bar director Peter Cooper said “Like any contractor in any industry, failure to perform a service as advertised/sold will result in the contractor rectifying the situation”.
Cooper cited the example of a plumber hired to install a sink.
“The work is not done correctly, and it causes a flood. The plumber must rectify the issue at the plumber’s time and cost, not the clients’,” he said.
Strippers advocacy group, Fired Up Stilettos says the clause is problematic. Photo / Supplied
He said the contract was written and kept up to date with changes in legislation by a third party, Employsure.
It is a “generalised contractor agreement with specific clauses for our industry”, and he said the “defective” clause can be found in most professional contractor-based agreements and refers to “defective performance – not providing the service they have sold or advertised”.
His contractors only provide a few services, he said, primarily private dances.
Some examples of what could be deemed a “defective performance” were contractors not performing for as long as the time a client paid for or performing “a standard lap dance instead of a ‘Toy Show’.”
He suspected that any criticism of the clause might be coming from “disgruntled” previous contractors.
“The company and staff at Stilettos prioritise contractor’s safety and well-being,” Cooper said.
“The contractors and staff are afforded plenty of ongoing support and guidance in various capacities in what can be a challenging industry to navigate.”
Former Stilettos dancer Kitten told the Herald she felt that the new contract seems to take away a dancer’s “right to refusal”.
“I was disgusted ... I was hoping I’d read it wrong,” she said.
“So many times you can have a customer be pissed off because they didn’t get to have sex with you – that warrants a complaint.”
Employment law expert Kathryn Dalziel said the “defective performance” clause is not necessarily problematic in itself. But, as a matter of law, the company needs to establish on the balance of probabilities, that there has been a defect in performance, she said.
The call for legislative reform
The 2003 Prostitution Reforms Act (PRA) was formed to decriminalise prostitution in New Zealand and provide rights to sex workers. It also works to safeguard sex workers from exploitation. However, strippers in New Zealand are not covered by the PRA.
“The PRA makes explicit there is a right to refusal for prostitution, but since strippers are classified as ‘entertainers’ under NZ law, their rights are just completely unaddressed,” said Beebe, a founding member of Fired Up Stilettos (FUS) which is calling for legislative change.
Beebe said contractors in adult entertainment are exposed to widespread exploitation, not due to the sexual nature of their work but rather because of the lack of legal protections offered to workers.
FUS recently presented a petition to parliament requesting regulatory protections for adult entertainment workers, while retaining their current legal status as independent contractors (rather than employees).
The group is calling for the right to bargain collectively, to outlaw all fines and bonds between contractual principals (adult entertainment venues) and the defined group of contractors, and finally to establish a mandatory maximum of 20% that a principal can take from a contractor’s profits.
“The Government needs to commit to legislative change to ensure people in the adult entertainment industry aren’t subjected to contracts that put their safety and financial wellbeing at risk.”
Katie Oliver is a Christchurch-based Multimedia Journalist and breaking news reporter.
