[kepler1]

Why should the contract have to dictate that, when it's the production that would have to pay/suffer if they shortsightedly understaffed something? The writers have sick days and time off protections already. Seems to me this is about guaranteeing employment. If having more than one body in the writer's room is needed, let the production decide that or live with the consequences.

[uoaei]

Because often they find ways around the "suffering", e.g., just marketing the hell out of bad stuff and making money on it anyway by getting eyeballs on it. See: Netflix, Amazon, etc. content farms for example.

[autoexec]

> when it's the production that would have to pay/suffer if they shortsightedly understaffed something

It isn't just the production that would suffer if the writer is overworked. The writer is the person under pressure to deliver the script on time. Worse, the output would suffer because one stressed out person, who doesn't have the time needed to do the job properly, isn't going to be doing their best work. It's the writer's name that ends up in the credits of whatever gets produced and the quality of the work determines their future employment.