The entertainment industry moves fast, and for professionals in payroll, accounting, and production management, keeping up with changing union requirements can feel overwhelming. Collective bargaining agreements, wage schedules, and benefit rules form the foundation of every union production, but few people outside of labor relations ever receive formal training on how to read them.

That is why the FTV Graduate Program created the Free Crash Course Series, a collection of short and practical courses that make complex industry concepts easier to understand. Each course is focused, interactive, and designed to strengthen the knowledge that payroll and production professionals use every day.

The series is open to anyone who works with or supports union payroll and wants to understand the "why" behind the rules. Whether you are a payroll clerk learning the basics, a coordinator preparing to move into a payroll accountant role, or a production manager looking to understand crew contracts more clearly, these short courses are designed for you.

Each free course takes about 30 to 45 minutes to complete and includes structured, guided lessons with real-world examples and interactive exercises. Participants finish with practical takeaways they can immediately apply to their work. Every graduate also receives a 30% off coupon for their next FTV Graduate Program course, making it easier to continue building their professional skill set.

Featured Course: How to Read a CBA – Union Contracts for Non-Lawyers

For anyone working in payroll or production, understanding a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is essential. Yet many professionals find CBAs intimidating or overly technical, filled with dense text and legal terminology that can be difficult to interpret. How to Read a CBA: Union Contracts for Non-Lawyers removes that barrier by teaching learners how to approach a CBA with clarity and confidence.

This free crash course walks through the structure of a CBA step by step. It explains how the agreement is organized, what each section covers, and how to find the answers to common workplace questions without a legal background. By the end of the course, participants understand what each part of a CBA means, how to read it in context, and how to use that knowledge to make accurate payroll and compliance decisions.

A Practical Guide for Non-Lawyers

This course is designed specifically for professionals who need to use CBAs in their everyday work but do not have formal legal training. Instead of focusing on theory or legal interpretation, it teaches practical reading skills that can be applied immediately. Learners explore how a CBA is organized, starting from the Preamble and Scope sections that describe who the agreement covers, and moving through Wages, Working Conditions, and Benefits. The course also explains the importance of Appendices, where rate sheets and classifications are usually found.

Each concept is introduced in plain language with examples that connect to familiar workplace scenarios. For instance, when the course discusses the Wages section, learners see how rates are grouped by daily or weekly employees and where to look for notes that modify base pay. When learning about Working Conditions, participants examine how rules about hours, breaks, and penalties affect payroll processing.

Key Concepts Covered

Participants learn several fundamental concepts that form the foundation for reading any CBA:

• Structure and Organization: How Articles, Sections, and Paragraphs are arranged, and how this structure helps locate information efficiently.
• Scope and Jurisdiction: How to determine who and what work the agreement covers.
• Wages and Classifications: How to read rate tables and understand how pay scales are defined.
• Working Conditions: How hours, rest periods, and penalties are written and applied in practice.
• Benefits and Contributions: What “subject wages” mean and how employer-paid benefits are defined.
• Sideletters and MOAs: How add-on documents modify or clarify the main agreement.
• Legal Language: How to interpret key terms such as “shall,” “may,” and “subject to,” which determine whether a rule is required, optional, or conditional.

By the end of the course, learners understand not just where to find information in a CBA, but how to interpret it accurately.

Interactive Learning Designed for Real Workflows

The course is delivered through the FTV Graduate Program’s online learning platform, which combines short lessons with interactive activities. Learners engage in exercises that simulate real work situations, such as matching a clause to its correct section, following cross-references between articles, or identifying which section applies to a payroll question.

Knowledge checks throughout the course reinforce comprehension and build confidence. Each question includes detailed feedback that explains why an answer is correct or incorrect, helping learners deepen their understanding. The interactive design ensures that learning feels practical, hands-on, and immediately relevant to daily tasks in payroll and production environments.

Each slide takes about one to two minutes to complete, allowing learners to finish the course in under an hour while still gaining a strong foundation in how to read and navigate collective bargaining agreements.

Who Should Take This Course

This course is ideal for:

• Payroll Clerks and Coordinators who are beginning to work with union contracts.
• Production Accountants and Managers who review timecards or resolve questions about pay and working conditions.
• Finance and HR Professionals who support union productions or compliance teams.
• Anyone new to union environments who wants to build confidence reading and understanding CBAs.

No prior union or legal experience is required. The content is approachable, practical, and written for professionals who want to strengthen their foundational skills in entertainment payroll and compliance.

A Foundation for Deeper Learning

How to Read a CBA is part of the FTV Graduate Program Free Crash Course Series, which introduces key concepts in entertainment payroll, labor relations, and compliance. Each course in the series builds on the last, preparing learners for more advanced training offered through the full FTV Graduate Program curriculum.

After completing this course, participants are encouraged to continue with the next course, Applying CBAs, which focuses on interpreting and using contract language in real-world scenarios. The crash courses are designed to make professional training accessible and help learners grow their confidence one skill at a time.

By offering free access to foundational training, FTV Consulting helps professionals strengthen their knowledge, improve compliance accuracy, and build long-term career readiness in entertainment payroll and labor management.

Ready to get started?

Enroll in How to Read a CBA: Union Contracts for Non-Lawyers and take the first step toward mastering the language of union contracts. Complete the course and earn a 30% off coupon for your next FTV Graduate Program course.

Visit ftvconsulting.com/graduate-program to begin your free training and start learning how to read CBAs with clarity and confidence.