What does Voucher mean?
Voucher is the document that a background performer submits to the production at the end of each working day to verify their presence and hours worked — and that serves as their payment record. Background performers working on SAG-AFTRA productions receive SAG vouchers, and accumulating a specific number of SAG vouchers is one of the pathways to SAG-AFTRA membership eligibility under the union’s voucher system. Three SAG background vouchers make a performer SAG-eligible, giving them the option to join the union. Vouchers are distributed in limited numbers on each production, making them a sought-after commodity among non-union background performers.
Example:After her third day of background work on a SAG-AFTRA production, the child actor had accumulated her third SAG voucher — making her SAG-eligible and giving the family the option to apply for union membership when the timing was strategically appropriate.
Example: The background casting director explained that SAG vouchers were limited on this particular production and would be distributed based on the specific scenes being filmed — parents of child actors hoping to receive a voucher should ensure their children were available for the scenes where principal background performers were needed.
Did you know?
The three-voucher pathway to SAG-AFTRA eligibility is not the only route to union membership, but it is one of the most accessible for performers without agent representation. However, SAG vouchers have become significantly harder to accumulate as productions have become more aware of non-union performers seeking them strategically. Some productions use ‘must join’ background performers specifically to avoid creating SAG-eligible non-union performers who will then require the production to hire them at SAG rates going forward.
