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Category: Policy Update

  • Finding up-to-date policies and forms on the Intranet

    Finding up-to-date policies and forms on the Intranet

    We’d like to remind colleagues how to access the most up-to-date policies and forms.

    • Go to Useful Documents in the main menu.

    • Select the area relevant to you (casual, hourly, salaried, volunteers, or management).

    • Within each area, you’ll find documents organised by category, all of these are kept up to date.

    In addition, under Useful Documents – Management (at the bottom of the page), you can also access:

    • Storytelling notes.

    • Brand guidelines.

    • Inclusive storytelling language guide.

    • Directory of Museum buildings.

    • Our Bostin’ Promise policy.

    Please note: we don’t recommend using the search bar in the top-right corner to look for policies, as this may bring up old intranet articles from previous years. The correct way to find current documents is through the Useful Documents section, as outlined above.

  • Creating a Menopause-Friendly Workplace

    Creating a Menopause-Friendly Workplace

    We are committed to fostering an open and supportive environment for everyone experiencing menopause symptoms. Our updated Menopause Policy is designed to help make our Museum understanding and inclusive, ensuring that managers and colleagues feel comfortable having open conversations about menopause-related issues.

    The policy outlines what support is available and how to access it, making sure those affected by menopause know where to turn for help and guidance.

    This policy applies to all colleagues – including employees, casual workers, and volunteers.

    🧡 Menopause Champions are here to listen, support, and help signpost you to the right resources (attached)

    If you have any questions please email [email protected]

  • Staff Discounts

    Staff Discounts

    The Enterprise team is excited to launch a new till system across all food and beverage units w/c 3rd July.

    This follows a great amount of work from many teams over numerous months, to select, develop and implement this new system.

    The team has taken the opportunity to carefully censor-check all product pricing as items and recipes are loaded into the new database.  

    Following this careful review, the temporary trial of a higher, 50% rate of staff discount specifically for food made at the Museum will end on 3rd July. Staff discounts across all food and drink products (with the exception of alcohol, where no discount exists), will revert to the standard 25% discount.

    Thank you for your cooperation.

  • Annual Leave Information

    Annual Leave Entitlement

    We are pleased to confirm that the Museum will be honouring the additional bank holiday to mark the King’s Coronation (on Monday 8 May 2023) and this will be included in to the 2023/2024 annual leave entitlement. As a result, holiday entitlement for the 2023/2024 holiday year will increase to 34 days for full time employees and will be pro-rata for part time employees. This will be reflected against individual leave entitlements on Myhrtoolkit and Planday.

    Annual Leave Buy & Sell Scheme

    Employees are now able to submit requests to purchase additional annual leave or sell annual leave for the 2023/2024 leave year. Please note the maximum amount of annual leave an employee may buy or sell is the equivalent of one contractual week, however, the total holiday entitlement inclusive of any carry over or purchase of holiday cannot exceed 38 days for full time employees or the equivalent for part time employees. This means for the 2023/2024 leave year a full time employee who will be entitled to 34 days may only submit a request to purchase 4 days holiday.

    Employees who wish to make a request must familiarise themselves with the Museum’s Buying & Selling Annual Leave Scheme and complete a Buying & Selling Annual Leave Form which can be found here. Requests under the scheme will require approval from the employee’s Line Manager and the People & Culture team.

    If the request to buy or sell annual leave is approved, employees will be notified of the resulting change in their monthly pay. Adjustments in pay as a result of the scheme will commence from April, for a period of 12 months.

    Requests must be received by the People & Culture team by no later than Friday 10 March 2023.

    Requests to Carry Over Annual Leave

    As a reminder, ordinarily untaken leave cannot be carried forward into the next leave year and will be lost. However, in exceptional circumstances a maximum of one contractual week may be carried over from one holiday year to the next. Please note that the total holiday entitlement inclusive of carry over (if approved) cannot exceed 38 days for full time employees or the equivalent for part time employees.

    Approval must be sought from an employee’s line manager and the People & Culture team if an employee wishes to carry forward any annual leave into the next leave year. Employees should complete a Carry Over of Annual Leave Request Form which can be found here.

    All requests for carry over of annual leave need to be submitted 4 weeks prior to the end of the leave year.

    If you have any queries in relation to the above please contact the People & Culture team ([email protected])

  • Updated Smoking Policy

    Dear Colleague,

    Please find attached a revised and updated Smoking Policy applicable to both Staff and Visitors, together with a map of the designated smoking areas.

    Please read the policy in full. Key points include:

    • Staff & volunteers (Colleagues) cannot smoke anywhere on site other than the staff only designated smoking zones. These are the staff area of the original car park and on the towpath directly behind the Bottle and Glass. Staff should NOT go across the canal bridge to the Dudley Canal Trust (DCT) and use their designated smoking area, as this will lead to conflict with the DCT.
    • Visitors can not smoke in any building, semi-closed buildings or locations.
    • Visitors should be gently directed to only smoke or vape in visitor designated smoking areas, which are behind the Newcomen Engine and the the far side of the lifting bridge by Brown’s Bridge. There will be a clear sign on the fence/wall and a galvanised bucket filled with sand at each location.
    • In the interest of staff safety , please only signpost visitors to the Visitor Smoking Designated areas. Signposting should be done in a mindful and respectful manger. If visitors ignore your suggestion, please do not persist.
    • The only instance when a visitor can be instructed to not smoke is if they are entering a building with a live cigarette or vape.
    • All colleagues should always remain calm, professional and polite in their communication to visitors.
    • For the avoidance of doubt, Staff & Volunteers cannot smoke in the visitor designated smoking areas.

    If you have any questions, please contact your Line Manager.

  • Updated COVID Guidance – Living With COVID

    ‘Living with Covid-19’

    Throughout the pandemic, the Museum has always been guided by government guidelines, and on April 1st these guidelines will change to reflect the Government’s ‘living with Covid-19’ plan. The Museum has considered these guidelines and reviewed the control measures in place. 

    From the 1st April the wearing of face coverings will be the personal choice of staff. All remaining social distancing measures, screens and designated break spaces will be phased out.

    However, we recognise that for some, the removal of restrictions will cause concern and, as such, we will continue to encourage visitors to wear face coverings indoors and to respect the space of others within the museum.

    We encourage everyone to ensure their work area is well-ventilated and to continue to practise good hygiene measures such as regular hand washing/sanitising. Please show consideration for those who still wish to observe social distancing.

    We will retain key sanitising stations around the site and will maintain high cleaning levels in public areas.

    Cleaning materials will continue to be available in demonstration areas and meeting rooms for voluntary use

    We respectfully remind everyone to not come into work if they feel unwell and have symptoms that may impact the health of other colleagues. If you have any questions or concerns as a result of these changes, please raise them with your line manager so that they can be addressed by Janet Brennan, the Health and Safety Manager.

    The Museum will continue to review all guidance and monitor feedback.

  • ‘Living with Covid 19’ – Update on Covid related absence

    In line with the latest Government guidance this week setting out the plans for ‘Living with Covid 19’, from Thursday 24 February 2022 there is no longer a requirement for those who test positive to self-isolate. Consistent with other sickness absence, we do not expect individuals to come to work if they feel unwell and have symptoms that may impact the health of other colleagues. Individuals should follow the normal absence reporting procedures. Covid related absences will be recorded and monitored in line with the Museum’s absence policy.

    There is no longer a legal requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate, or for those who are fully vaccinated close contacts to do daily testing. Individuals are encouraged to exercise caution and observe Covid safe behaviors.

  • Annual Leave – Important Information

    Please find below an update in regards to the Museum’s annual leave policy and provisions.

    Annual Leave Entitlement

    We are pleased to confirm that the Museum will be honoring the additional bank holiday to mark the Queen’s Jubilee and this will be included in to the 2022/2023 annual leave entitlement. As a result, holiday entitlement for the 2022/2023 holiday year will increase to 34 days for full time staff and will be pro-rata for part time staff. We will reflect this against your leave entitlement on Myhrtoolkit and Planday.

    Annual Leave Policy

    The Annual Leave policy has been updated to include reference to Myhrtoolkit for annual leave requests for salaried staff and also provides greater clarity on potential exceptional circumstances for Carry Over of Annual Leave requests. You can view the policy here.

    Annual Leave Buy & Sell Scheme

    Employees are now able to submit requests to purchase additional annual leave or sell annual leave for the 2022/2023 leave year. Please note the maximum amount of annual leave an employee may buy or sell is the equivalent of one contractual week, however, the total holiday entitlement inclusive of any carry over or purchase of holiday cannot exceed 38 days for full time employees or the equivalent for part time employees. This means for the 2022/2023 leave year a full time employee who will be entitled to 34 days may only submit a request to purchase 4 days holiday.

    Employees who wish to make a request must familiarise themselves with the Museum’s Buying & Selling Annual Leave Scheme and complete a Buying & Selling Annual Leave Form which can be found here. Requests under the scheme will require approval from the employee’s line manager and the People & Culture Team.

    If the request to buy or sell annual leave is approved, employees will be notified of the resulting change in their monthly salary. Adjustments in pay as a result of the scheme will commence from April, for a period of 12 months.

    Requests must be received by the People & Culture team by no later than Friday 11 March 2022.

    Requests to Carry Over Annual Leave

    As a reminder, ordinarily untaken leave cannot be carried forward into the next leave year and will be lost. However, in exceptional circumstances a maximum of one contractual week may be carried over from one holiday year to the next. Please note that the total holiday entitlement inclusive of carry over (if approved) cannot exceed 38 days for full time employees or the equivalent for part time employees.

    Approval must be sought from an employee’s line manager and the People & Culture Team if an employee wishes to carry forward any annual leave into the next leave year. Employees should complete a Carry Over of Annual Leave Request Form which can be found here.

    All requests for carry over of annual leave usually need to be submitted 4 weeks prior to the of the leave year, however, it has been agreed outside of our usual policy that all requests are submitted by no later than Friday 11 March 2022.

    If you have any queries in relation to the Museum’s annual leave policy or the Buy & Sell Scheme please contact the People & Culture team ([email protected])

  • Updated COVID guidelines for staff

    Following the Government announcement of the easing of COVID restrictions from Thursday 27th January, the following control measures will remain in place across site. All other restrictions are no longer valid, unless mentioned below.

    • All visitors will be encouraged to wear a face covering in indoor settings.
    • All staff are required to wear a face covering, unless exempt, in indoor public settings and are encouraged to wear a face covering in indoor settings where they may come into close contact with someone who is not in their household e.g. corridors.
    • Visitors are encouraged to maintain a 2 metre distance from those not in their household. Staff should maintain a 2 metre distance from visitors and always at least 1 metre from colleagues.
    • Break spaces and times will be fixed to reduce mixing between teams.
    • Morning briefings will remain separate.
    • Screens will remain in place.
    • Rooms should be ventilated during or after use as appropriate.
    • Sanitising stations will remain in place.
    • Shared spaces should be sanitised with the materials provided after use.
    • Visitors and staff must not attend site if they have symptoms or have tested positive for COVID-19, or have been advised to self-isolate by Test and Trace. Colleagues should continue to regularly test with Lateral Flow Devices and must self-isolate immediately; and notify People & Culture if they either receive a positive result or develop symptoms.

    These measures will be reviewed in 4 weeks or sooner if government advice changes.

    You will notice that individual COVID-19 signage across museum buildings will be removed in coming days in favour of larger messaging at key locations along the visitor journey. Such an approach will retain clear recommendations to our visitors, whilst allowing us to showcase the museum at its best.  

  • Important Update – Current Covid-19 Guidance (30/11/2021)

    In light of the Government’s recent announcement regarding mandatory face coverings in certain settings from 30 November 2021, the Museum will require all visitors, unless they are exempt, to wear a face covering in the following areas;

    • All indoor retail settings; the Gift Shop (including Admissions), Morrall’s, Cakes and Sweets
    • On Public Transport
    • Hobbs and Village Fish and Chip Shop
    • The enterprise unit located near the mine (formerly Rock and Fossil)

    Signage across the Museum will be changed to reflect where a face covering is mandatory for visitors, and Admissions will be highlighting to visitors the areas on site where a face covering will be required. Colleagues are not expected to enforce this.

    All colleagues must continue to follow the Museum’s current requirement to wear a suitable face covering, unless exempt, in all indoor settings where the public are present. We also continue to advise all colleagues to follow the Government’s recommendation to wear a face covering in any indoor setting where they may come into close contact (within 1 metre) with those who aren’t in their household.

    As a reminder, all colleagues should continue to observe Covid-safe behaviours by;

    • Not attending the Museum if you have symptoms of Covid or have received notification to isolate.
    • Regular hand washing or sanitisation where hand washing is not possible.
    • Wearing a face covering as outlined above.
    • Maintaining appropriate safe distancing with colleagues and visitors.
    • Ventilating meetings rooms and sanitising after use.

    Please continue to contact your line manager and email the People & Culture team ([email protected]) if you test positive for Covid or receive a notification from NHS test and trace to isolate.

    The Museum will continue to review the need for any further precautionary measures in line with Government guidance and to mitigate any safety risks for colleagues and visitors.

    If you have any questions regarding the above please speak to your line manager.