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Category: HR and policies TV Feed

  • Staff Tickets – An Enchanted Christmas

    If you would like to purchase staff tickets for An Enchanted Christmas, please see the below information about how to purchase.

    • Tickets will be available for this event from Thursday 22nd October. You will need to go to the Admissions desk between 9am – 9:30am on weekdays that the Museum is open, or purchase by phone 10am – 4pm each day 0121 520 8054. Please note that no tickets will be available for purchase at the weekends due to the allocation being handled by S&T.
    • Staff will receive 50% discount off the price of each event ticket.
    • Each member of staff may purchase up to four tickets (of any combination) per event (not per day) at the discounted rate, and may purchase a maximum of two additional tickets at the standard rate.
    • Staff are required to provide their name, home address and contact details to purchase tickets, as is standard of any customer. On the date of the event, any visitors holding staff tickets (including staff members themselves) must join the normal admissions queue for that event. Staff tickets do not provide fast track entry.
    • Staff cannot purchase tickets on the behalf of another staff member.
    • Staff tickets cannot be held or reserved without payment.
  • New donation of objects guidelines

    New donation of objects guidelines

    The Collections Care and Management Team are once again accepting donations of objects to the collection. During Covid-19 special measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of both donors and museum staff.

    As such, the following process for collecting of objects will be followed.

    Donating an Object to Black Country Living Museum     

    Before bringing or sending an object to the museum the potential donor will first need to contact the Collections Care and Management Team via one of the following ways:

    Email: [email protected]

    Post: Collections Care and Management Team, Black Country Living Museum, Tipton, Dudley DY1 4SQ

    Phone:  0121 557 9643 – Extension 3

    If anyone is approached by a member of the public with an offer of an object for the collection, can they please guide them to the collections page on the website which gives all of the information needed to be able to make an offer.

    Unfortunately, any items that have not been approved via email or letter by a member of the Collections Care and Management team will not be accepted.

    A list of the objects we are and are not currently collecting can be found at below for guidance, as can two workflows setting out the process of managing offers.

    Objects not accepted for donation

    Objects considered for donation

    Collections Care Object Workflow

    Collections Care Object Workflow – BCLM Forging Ahead

  • Face coverings

    In light of the latest changes to COVID-19 guidance all staff and volunteers will need to wear a face covering when passing through Admissions, the Museum Shop and any food and drink outlets when we are open to the public . As well as meeting our legal obligations this will hopefully save any confusion and also encourage our visitors to comply. Anyone working in these areas will need to wear a face covering when they are not behind a screen.

    All managers  are asked to make sure that this information is passed on to their team.

    Further updates will be given as and when information is received from the Government.

  • A reminder about COVID-safe behaviours

    A reminder about COVID-safe behaviours

    In light of the latest government update on COVID-19 controls, we thought it useful to make clear how the “Rule of 6” and Track and Trace changes impact the Museum and to take the opportunity to remind everyone of our COVID-safe measures and related behaviour.

    • All colleagues must maintain a social distance of at least 2 metres from each other and all visitors in the Museum.  Distancing on-site also applies to colleagues or visitors who are in the same household or ‘bubble’ as you. Other visitors to the Museum will not know your personal circumstances and might assume that you are not observing social distancing.
    • Regular hand washing (or sanitisation where washing is not possible) should always take place after arrival at work, before and after a break, before and after handling a face covering or shield, and before you leave to go home.
    • Separate break areas and toilets have been allocated depending on which zone/area you work in for each day. This has been done to ensure that social distancing can be maintained and to assist Track and Trace if we need to inform them of a positive case.  You MUST stick to your allocated area for the day – if you aren’t sure where you should be going please ask the Duty Manager at morning briefing.
    • All colleagues are now required to clock in to ensure we can track who has been to the Museum each day, should we need to report a positive case for Track and Trace purposes.
    • We must all lead by example and observe the distancing measures introduced, when open to the public.  Keep left, follow all one-way routes, enter and exit buildings or areas as directed by the signage or symbols and help ensure that building capacities are observed.
    • Where you have a concern that visitors might be gathering outside of the “rule of 6”, i.e. a larger group has formed and appears to know each other or be moving around site together, please make the Duty Manager aware for them to approach the group appropriately.
    • Where visitors are naturally getting a little close, please feel free to politely remind visitors to keep their distance from others not in their household.  Please present this as a general reminder.
    • Please dispose of paper towels in a bin.  Sanitary bins are only for used anti-bacterial wipes and sanitary products, rather than general waste.
    • All cutlery and crockery must be washed, dried and put away after use. All rubbish must be placed in the bins provided.  We would like to make microwaves available for use again, but this will only be possible if we can maintain a high standard of cleanliness in our kitchen areas.

    We thank everyone who is making an effort to keep the Museum a safe place to work and visit and we hope that everyone can continue to make this the case in such challenging times. Checks will continue to be made throughout each day and further action will be taken where breaches in safe behaviours are identified.

  • Change to Museum opening hours, effective week commencing 7th September 2020

    Dear Colleagues

    Thank you all for your hard work and support in advance of our re-opening at the beginning of August and your enthusiasm for the programme and our COVID safety measures now we have visitors back onsite.

    The feedback from our visitors has been overwhelmingly positive and many have commented that they have experienced parts of the Museum that they haven’t before, found our offer to be more engaging, our food and drink offer to be more plentiful and that the Museum has felt safe and well controlled. 

    Despite this wonderful feedback, we do need to recognise that closure due to COVID-19 meant we lost 150,000 visitors and C.£3m in revenue.  BCLM is 94% funded by our visitors so with a continued reduction in attendance due to social distancing measures, the uncertainty around future visitors, especially schools and groups this Autumn and Winter, or our ability to hold events will continue to have a financial impact on the Museum

    Our award from the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund was gratefully received in June and this week we have submit a bid for further support from the Government Cultural Recovery fund.  We will receive the outcome of our bid at the end of October. 

    With these factors in mind, we have taken the difficult decision to reduce the Museum’s opening hours, effective from 7th September 2020 as follows:

    • W/C 7th September: Open Thursday 10th – Sunday 13th, 10am – 4pm.  (Wednesday 9th closed for a private booking)
    • W/C 14th September –25th October: Open Wednesday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm.
    • W/C 26th October – 1st November – October Half Term: Open Monday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm.

    You will see that we are effectively bringing forward our winter opening hours to reflect our lower visitor numbers.

    Those colleagues whose contracted days or hours will reduce as a result of the above, will have the difference “topped” up to 80% of their usual pay using the Government’s Job Retention flexible furlough scheme until the end of October when the scheme comes to an end and when we would usually expect to move to our low season hours.

    If you have any queries about your personal situation or work patterns then please speak to you line managers who will work through these with you with support from People & Culture if required.

    I appreciate this will be disappointing but not unexpected news and we mustn’t let it dampen our spirits.  Let’s continue to deliver a fantastic visitor experience and maintain momentum and energy as we move into Autumn.

    Thank you again for your continued support.

    All the best

    Andrew

  • Furlough FAQs

    What does being furloughed Mean?

    It means that the Museum has to ask you to stop working in order to get funded support from the Government’s Job Retention Scheme.

    Will I get paid when I am furloughed?

    Yes, pay for April will be at 100% as previously announced on 18 March 2020.  If we are still closed in May and also June, pay will be in accordance with the Government’s Job Retention Scheme.  Read more on the gov.uk site.

    Can I do other paid work during whilst being furloughed?

    If you work for any other organisation during your furlough Leave, other than one you already worked for before going on furlough leave, you must tell us. In other words, if you take on new additional role, there is a risk that HMRC will reclaim your salary payments back from the Museum and if they do you will have to repay it to the Museum. Please ensure you email [email protected] and receive a response from the Museum before committing to a new role.

    What happens if I have pre-booked annual leave now that I am furloughed?

    All annual leave excluding Bank Holidays, is cancelled during the period of closure. The Government has issued new guidelines relaxing the arrangements on carry-over of annual leave. Please refer to UK GOV website for specific details on this.

    What happens if I have bought or sold annual leave under the Museum’s Buying & Selling Annual Leave Scheme?

    If your request to buy/sell annual leave has been approved, this will be processed as planned. You will have received a letter regarding the change to your monthly pay and this will take effect from March payroll.

    I have requested to carry over annual leave from my 2019/2020 annual leave entitlement, will this be approved?

    As of yet, no requests to carry over annual leave have been formally approved. All requests will be reviewed at a later date and those employees who have submitted a request will be communicated with accordingly.

    Should I check my Museum emails when I am furloughed?

    We would encourage you to check your emails for any updates or changes to your current furloughed status.

    However, you should not directly respond to any other work-related emails. An out of office will be put on your BCLM email addresses directing queries to an appropriate member of the non-furloughed team.

    How will I know when I am no longer furloughed ?

    We will contact you via email or Planday to give you notice of the proposed end of the furlough period, we can confirm that this will be no earlier than the 1st May 2020.

    What do I need to do if I am sick whilst designated as furloughed ?

    You still remain an employee of the Museum, therefore you still have a responsibility to keep us informed of any sickness absence whether it is related to Coronavirus or otherwise. Please email [email protected].

    I am a casual worker, will I still get paid for any holiday I have accrued in my March pay?

    Any outstanding holiday payments for casual workers will be paid in the April pay period.

    I am a casual worker, am I included in the Job Retention Scheme?

    At the moment the Job Retention Scheme does not apply to our Casual Worker Agreements, however we are continuing to monitor this situation and if there is any change we will contact those impacted by this.

    I am casual worker and I may need a reference for other work, how I can I get this during the closed period?

    Please email [email protected]. We will try to respond to requests on the same day, but at the very latest within 24 hours.

    What about security of the Museum site during shutdown?

    We have taken every practical step to keep the site as secure as possible during shutdown. 

    How will the Museum communicate with us?

    The Museum’s Leadership Team will keep staff updated as the situation progresses. In the first instance, please keep an eye on the intranet where important updates and announcements will be made as appropriate.

    Who do I contact if I have a question or concern?

    A small numbers of colleagues have not been furloughed for reasons of business continuity and they will have access to [email protected].

    How do I access my payslip?

    The Museum operates an online (e-payslip) system called My Epay Window. You can access this by visiting https://www.myepaywindow.com/ and entering your username and password. If you cannot remember your login details you can request to reset this information by clicking ‘forgot password?’ or ‘forgot username?’ Anyone who has not activated their account will have recently been sent an invitation from My Epay Window which will have been sent to the email address held on file.

    It is important that you access your payslips during the closed period to receive your P60 (End of Year Tax certificate).

    Where can I access external support and advice?

    We understand that the temporary Museum closure and COVID-19 is a very real concern for all colleagues. We suggest that colleagues take this time to explore external supports available to them. Our Employee Assistance Programme and Reward Gateway are good starting points as are the Government COVID-19 response pages.

    What is the Employee Assistant Programme and how do I access it?

    The Employee Assistant Programme is a confidential 24/7, 365 days a year service. Accredited counsellors and experienced information specialists offer support and signposting across a range of personal legal, medical, health and wellbeing issues, as well as a telephone counselling service.

    Support can be accessed via the telephone helpline and there is also on online portal available, where you can access further information. To access the helpline, please call 0800 015 7287 (quoting Black Country Living Museum), or visit www.colleaguesupport.co.uk and use 72160 as your username and password.

    What is the Reward Gateway and how can I access it?

    You can access this via https://wellness.bclm.com. You will need your payroll number if you are accessing for the first time. The site is only open to contracted staff. It provides practical tools to support /assist with financial planning and health & wellbeing, including lots of practical videos on staying fit and recipes for healthy eating, which may be useful given the social distancing restrictions.

    Will Forging Ahead be affected?

    Yes, although the development is largely externally funded, there inevitably will be a delay in construction and a possible change in the scope of the project. It is too early to comment on the change in timings and overall plan for the development, but we will update colleagues, funders and stakeholders in due course. Construction will be paused until further notice.

  • Updated New Starter/Leaver Process

    FAO Line Managers

    To improve efficiency and ensure accuracy for payroll purposes, both the new starter and leaver process have been updated.

    A flowchart has been created for the new starter and the leaver process for managers to follow, which will help guide you through the process step by step. The guidance for managers can be found in the ‘documents’ tab above under ‘forms>for managers’.

    Most notably, the new starter and leaver forms have been revised to help capture the necessary information that the People & Culture team need, and to remove any redundant fields. If you have any previous versions of these forms please remove them from your files and only use the most up to date version which is now saved on the intranet in the ‘documents’ tab above under ‘forms>for managers’.

    If you need any further guidance, please contact a member of the People & Culture Team ([email protected]).

  • Forging Ahead – Update

    Huw Davies, Project Manager for Forging Ahead, gives us a brief update on where we are with the project including the tendering process and building works.

  • Health & Wellbeing at BCLM

    We are delighted to launch our Health & Wellbeing Policy.  Please do take a moment to read this. 

    As part of our endeavours to increase awareness and opportunities of achieving a healthier lifestyle, we are delighted to also announce our Health and Wellbeing champions:

    Healthy Eating: Demi Whitehouse & Helen Taylor

    Lifestyle: Craig Edmondson & Dawn Hampton

    Mental Health: Ann Key, Barbara O’Sullivan & Glenis Williams

    Physical Activity: Carla Handy & Lucy Brown

    Spiritual Wellbeing: Michelle Darby & Steven Grainger

    Please do contact any of the above people if you have ideas that can deliver greater physical and mental wellbeing for our colleagues.  The Museum site offers lots of options to keep us all active as well opportunities for social engagement.  Our recent Healthy Living workshop will soon be available to view as a video link.  

    As you may know we now have a covered cycle rack and to support this we will also soon be launching a new Cycle to Work scheme.

  • Greenery Appeal 2019

    It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about decorating the buildings ready for the festive season.  We use traditional greenery for many of the houses and shops so we are appealing for your help.

    Do you have rampant ivy or holly that needs pruning?  Do you have excess Christmas/ fir tree cuttings?  Or do you have other evergreen materials you can spare?

    If you have any of the above we would be grateful for donations of greenery.  The Santa Hunts and ‘Christmas in the Home’ start on Saturday 23 November this year so we will start preparing key buildings from Monday 18 November and continue the following week.  We may also need additional greenery in December, to refresh the buildings.

    If you can bring in any materials you can deposit them outside the staff Guide Hut and the Collections team will collect them.

    During the festive period, once buildings are decorated, if you are looking for greenery to refresh your building we will store surplus greenery on the first floor of the Cast iron House.

    If you have any questions about decorating the buildings for Christmas you speak to the collections team or email  [email protected]

    Thank you.