Please email: hr@royalautomobileclub.co.uk if you have any questions.
STAFF Q&A
A list of questions and answers can be viewed here, which will be added to over time. This includes further information about pay and benefits, annual leave and furlough leave.
If you have a query which isn’t covered by the Q&A please ask your line manager or email: hr@royalautomobileclub.co.uk
***
EVF REPRESENTATIVE DETAILS
Dear Managers and Staff,
Following on from Friday’s announcements, I would like to remind you of your Employee Voice Forum (EVF) Representatives and provide you with their contact details should you need them.
The EVF will be meeting regularly over the coming weeks to consult on all the proposals we have put forward and any comments or questions on these proposals should be sent to them. The EVF Representative will ensure that they are raised and answered at the next meeting.
EVF Representatives:
Simply click on the name of your representative below to send them an email and they can propose your ideas / ask questions anonymously on your behalf.
Katarinka Hvizdova – Housekeeping / Front of House PM
Khadija Ait Ali – Housekeeping / Front of House PM
Carys Marshall (Lead) – F & B / Banqueting & Events / Sales & Marketing PM
Lilija Bauriene – F & B / Banqueting & Events / Sales & Marketing PM
Kim Phimister – Kitchen / Back of House PM
Lisa Hemings – Sports & Wellbeing / Maintenance PM
Ross Gooding – Housekeeping / Front of House / Sports & Maintenance WP
Adam Culver – Housekeeping / Front of House / Sports & Maintenance WP
Peter Paksi – F & B / Banqueting & Events WP
Anthony Ellis – F & B / Banqueting & Events WP
Sophie Parkin – Central Support
David Stewart – Golf / Greenkeeping / Gardening WP
If you have any questions to submit to the EVF as a whole, please email evf@royalautomobileclub.co.uk.
Mary Carter-Lee
Head of HR
***
ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL STAFF – FRIDAY 5 JUNE 2020
Dear Managers and Staff,
As you are aware, we were required by the Government to close our clubhouses in late March, as part of the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19). Since then, most of you have been asked to take furlough leave, members have been unable to access the full breadth of Club services, and revenue has been brought to a standstill.
Following the closure, the management team took immediate action to control costs to reduce the financial impact of shutting down. This included renegotiating contracts with suppliers, freezing recruitment and capital expenditure (except for essential and committed projects), and closely controlling variable expenses. We also identified opportunities to gain support from the Government, including accessing the furlough scheme and applying for rates relief. These measures enabled the Club to continue to pay you full pay from late March until the end of June, regardless of whether you were asked to take furlough leave or remain at work.
Unfortunately, we are in unprecedented times and there is clearly no easy path back to what we previously considered ‘normal life’. Whilst our highest priority remains the health of staff and members, our immediate objective is to continue to open the Club’s facilities, in line with the Government’s step-by-step guidance. Through a gradual safe reopening of all our facilities we will be able to provide services to our members and employment for our valued staff. We anticipate that the journey will take many months, even years, and that, during this time, we will experience significantly reduced use of our clubhouses and services.
Proposed Measures
We have carefully assessed the probable levels of clubhouse activity during the coming months and into next year and have concluded that the current situation is unsustainable. To ensure the financial security of the Club, there are a number of measures that we would like to propose to you to protect the Club in the long term. These proposed measures include:
1. We would like to review pay for furloughed staff from 1st July 2020 to bring it in line with the allowances offered by the Government’s furlough scheme.
2. We would like to ask staff that work in Banqueting, the Long Bar and the Great Gallery and Brooklands Restaurants to work four days per week for a temporary period of time, as we reopen facilities and build confidence with our members that the Club is a safe place. We are proposing temporarily to reduce pay in line with reduced hours in those departments.
3. We would like to ask operational staff to be flexible where possible, including working in the other clubhouse or in a different department, if required. More details will follow.
4. Regrettably, there are a small number of roles that have been identified as potentially at risk of redundancy, primarily as a result of anticipated reduced activity. Twenty-two employees will be impacted by this announcement, with potentially eighteen employees at risk of redundancy. These employees will be notified today, and a 30 day consultation period will commence on 8 June.
Consultation
It is important for us to explain the proposed measures to you and to give you the opportunity to ask questions and propose alternatives. As a priority, we will be consulting with those individuals who are at risk of redundancy to ensure that they are able to ask questions concerning their situation and suggest alternatives, should they wish.
We will also be commencing a collective consultation process via the Employee Voice Forum on 8 June on both the proposed temporary changes to pay, working hours and work location, and also those roles that we believe may be at risk of redundancy.
A timetable outlining the schedule of these meetings and the areas for discussion will be circulated shortly, as will the list of representatives that form this forum. It is critical that you communicate your thoughts and suggestions through them, although you should always feel that you can also ask your line manager questions.
To ensure that all employees are kept up to date during this consultation process, we will be publishing ‘Questions and Answers’ and other key information on the staff information site.
We will endeavour to remain transparent throughout this process, ensuring that questions are answered promptly and alternatives fairly considered. We understand that this will be a difficult time for those of you impacted by the proposed changes and will do all we can to support you both during consultation and beyond.
Miles Wade CBE
Club Secretary
***
STAFF UPDATE – THURSDAY 14 MAY 2020
Dear Managers and Staff,
At the outset, I should say that I hope that you are well and that your families and friends remain healthy. Although we are not all together, you are very much on our minds, particularly as a glimmer of light emerged at the end of the tunnel yesterday with the limited reopening of Woodcote Park. Unfortunately, it is likely to be a considerable time before we return to anything like normal.
Pay for the month of June
In the meantime, I am pleased to inform you that, after a great deal of careful consideration, the Board has approved payment of your full salary for June. This applies to both working and furloughed employees and demonstrates the strength of the Club’s ongoing commitment to you.
Our long-term aim is to ensure the financial security of the Club for the benefit of staff and members whilst also supporting you in the shorter term. The rigorous cost control that we have been able to implement since March, combined with the Government support, has put the Club in a position where the Club can pay June’s salaries in full.
Whilst the Government’s Job Retention Scheme has provided some welcome financial support, the Club must consider each month whether it continues to be appropriate and affordable to ‘top up’ salaries for furloughed employees. Pay for the month of July will be reviewed over the coming month, taking into account the gradual reopening of our facilities and, for those of you who are furloughed, your eventual return to work.
Gradual reopening of facilities and your return to work
As you will be aware, the Government recently announced a roadmap to enable the country to recover gradually from the impact of the pandemic. This began yesterday when new measures were introduced including the opportunity for unlimited outdoor exercise.
Step One of the Government roadmap has allowed us to reopen golf and tennis at Woodcote Park and, to enable this, we have brought 20 employees back from furlough. They have joined approximately 65 employees who have continued to work during closure.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will continue to expand our services to members as soon as we are allowed to do so with, hopefully, the clubhouses opening, at least to some extent, in early July. For those of you who are currently furloughed, it is essential that you remain available to return to work when asked, possibly at short notice.
It is likely that the Club’s facilities will reopen gradually, in line with Government instructions and member usage, and so not all staff will be asked to return to work at the same time. It is also likely that working hours will need to be reduced temporarily in some departments whilst we build up our services towards normal volumes.
I fully appreciate that this is a difficult time for everyone but, as always, your wellbeing continues to be of critical importance to the Club. As we progress through the coming months we will continue to review ways in which we can best support you.
I wish you well until we meet again,
Miles
Miles Wade CBE
Club Secretary
***
LIMITED REOPENING OF WOODCOTE PARK
STAFF UPDATE – MONDAY 11 MAY 2020
Following the Government’s lifting of some restrictions, we are pleased to announce that we intend to open limited golf and tennis at Woodcote Park from this Wednesday (13 May).
Also from Wednesday, we expect to be able to welcome members to Woodcote Park to walk and relax in the gardens and woodland.
We are still examining the more detailed information released by the Government this afternoon, including on household freedoms and restrictions, and refining the arrangements to ensure the safety of both members and staff.
Confirmation of whether Woodcote Park will open on Wednesday and, if so, details of the necessary arrangements, will be sent to members tomorrow and a further updated will be posted on this page.
Any members of staff who will be required for this limited reopening will be contacted directly, if they have not been so already.
***
STAFF WIRE – 17 APRIL 2020
To view
To view the magazine in full screen, please click on the square shape in the bottom right corner.
Once in full screen you can turn the pages by clicking or tapping the arrows at either side of the screen or by using the arrows on your keyboard.
To zoom in, double-click or tap on the area you want to read or use the slider at the bottom on the right.
To download
To download the magazine as a pdf, please click on the downward arrow in the top left corner. It will appear in single pages rather than double page spreads, which will be easier to read on a small screen.
***
STAFF UPDATE – THURSDAY 9 APRIL 2020
Dear Managers and Staff,
Pay for the Month of May
It is over two weeks since I last wrote to you and I can assure you that you have all been in our minds and that we have been working hard to secure the Club’s future financial security and support you. I am pleased to report that the Board has approved full payment of your salary in May, following confirmation that April’s salary would be paid in full. This applies to both working and furloughed employees and demonstrates the Club’s commitment to sustain you throughout this pandemic.
We will be closely monitoring progress in the fight against COVID-19 over the coming weeks and months and assessing the impact that it might have on the Club. This work will focus on when and how we might start to reopen our clubhouses. As the situation develops and more information is forthcoming from the Government, we might need to consider the impact on pay for the months of June and beyond – and will update you on this in May.
Annual Leave – Furloughed Employees
For furloughed employees, we will be asking you to take one week’s mandatory annual leave during the month of May (in addition to the Bank Holidays in both April and May).
Accruing and taking annual leave during furlough leave has been an area which has not been fully clarified by the Government in its guidance. However, our understanding from ACAS (an independent advisory body on employment matters) is that you will continue to accrue holiday during your furlough leave and that it is reasonable during this time for the Club to ask you to take some of that leave.
As previously clarified, all booked annual leave for the months of April and May will be removed from Fourth. This will be replaced by one week’s leave for all furloughed employees in May.
I hope that you understand that we are making decisions as more information is provided to us. If you wish to discuss your individual situation concerning leave, please contact the HR Team at hr@royalautomobileclub.co.uk.
Questions and Answers
The HR Team have had a number of new questions raised and also had an opportunity to clarify responses to some of the questions on the original Q&A page which was shared with staff on 26 March 2020.
To access the updated Q&A page, please click here.
Other Updates
Next week, we will be circulating a special edition of the Staff Wire which will include updates from the Club Secretary, Club Chairman, Head of HR and also some additional information from the Communications Team.
As always, our priority remains your wellbeing and, as we progress through the next few months, we will continue to review ways in which we can best support you.
Meanwhile, my best wishes to you, your families and friends and I trust that you remain healthy.
Miles
Miles Wade CBE
Club Secretary
***
If you have any urgent questions, please contact your line manager or email the HR Team at: hr@royalautomobileclub.co.uk.
Thank you for your continuing understanding and support.