An Employment Court decision regarding a Wellington strip club has set an important precedent for the entire country’s adult entertainment industry, the dancers who pursued the case say.

This week, the Employment Court ruled that five dancers were employees of Calendar Girls when they worked at its Wellington club, not contractors.

The dancers took an employment case against the chain of adult venues after being effectively fired for challenging changes to their work conditions.

Cherida Fraser, from the Aotearoa Sex Workers Collective, told RNZ’s Checkpoint the dancers had been handed a contract on a work night that reduced their proportion of fees, while also increasing the overall fees.

“They grouped together to address it and engage in good faith with the club and wrote their letter and tried to get a meeting with them,” Fraser said.

“But this was denied and they were just terminated immediately, which was grossly unjust.

“They lost their livelihoods overnight when they were actually just trying to engage in good faith.”

During a hearing earlier this year, the dancers argued they were effectively being treated as employees, not contractors.

In its ruling, the court highlighted the level of control Calendar Girls had over the dancers, with numerous restrictions in place.

“The way they performed and the services that were on offer, they weren’t able to choose how much they charged for the services they offered on top of the baseline club fees,” Fraser explained.

“Their attendance, their sick leave, they were expected to do regular shifts, they weren’t able to take breaks when they wanted to.”

Even the dancers’ appearances were subject to scrutiny, Fraser said.

“Someone wanted to change their hair colour and that wasn’t allowed.

“As well as that, they were restricted from working anywhere else. So there were significant trade restraints.”

Power imbalance between Calendar Girls and dancers laid bare

Financial penalties were in place for breaches of those restrictions. Dancers would be fined $200 if they stayed in changing rooms for too long, $100 for misuse of a cell phone, and $100 for wearing a g-string.

The “coercive threat of financial penalty” was outrageous, Fraser said.

She said the women felt energised by the Employment Court’s ruling that they were employees, not contractors.

“And deservedly, this doesn’t happen without personal cost to them,” Fraser told RNZ’s Checkpoint.

The women had shown “absolute fortitude” by putting their lives on hold to pursue the case, Fraser said.

She shared a statement from the dancers, where they said they were proud to have stuck it out and received some hard-earned closure.

“We’re even more proud to have played a part in something much bigger than ourselves.

“We believe this judgment sets an important precedent for the adult entertainment industry on the whole.”

Fraser said the ruling meant the dancers could now be compensated for unfair dismissal.

She said the decision would put other clubs on notice to treat their workers better.

“I think this is a very strong signal to the clubs to ensure that the contracts and the practices that go with those contracts are truly independent.

“The workers should have full control of their own mahi and there will be consequences that hit those clubs in the pocket if they don’t start supporting full proper independent contracting.”