Rotas are to be completed by the Coordinators for their respective teams. They are to be done at least one week in advance.

When creating your team rota for the following week it is important to ensure that team members get their allocated days off (one for campus teams and two for tour guides) and that the gaps between days off do not fall too far apart (e.g. week 1 off Monday & Tuesday, Week 2 off Saturday Sunday would result in someone working 10 days in a row). Team members should be made aware that in some situations, time off may be split across several half days. Days off do not need to be, nor are they likely to be back-to-back. It is also unlikely that days off will be during weekends since there will be Full Day excursions.   

There are several things to consider when planning the rota, however it is important to remember that the needs of the business come first. 

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Non-residential Tour Guides Leaders

• Typically, these team members should be scheduled to work two consecutive excursions in a day. They have same duties and job description as fully residential Tour Guides, just be mindful of their commute times.  

Residential Tour Guides and Campus Leaders

• These team members can be utilised with much more flexibility as they are living on-site and don’t have to commute to work.   This means that they can work a morning, have the afternoon off, and work the evening shift. They can also work the morning shift after an evening activity, as they live on site and have breakfast catered for them. They have 100% availability to work, and any requests must be considered, but not guaranteed. It is important to remember their welfare, however, and any last-minute changes to scheduling and rotas resulting in a loss of time off should be agreed with adjustments to future plans to allow for a recovery of that time off. 

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Don’t forget to allow for time off for yourself too. Work with your managing partner and agree a timetable that suits the workload and events, but also provides a suitable amount of rest. Your Centre Manager is available to fill gaps in the rota and support your workload. 

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Lunch and dinner service times are not considered time off for Campus Leaders, and all team members must be made aware that during these times they cannot stop their work duties to take a break. 

Food is provided; however, student supervision is still a requirement and a  priority. Communication is key to this; if a team member is due to miss lunch service because of an extended task, excursion or other workload, ask the catering team to put some food aside, and tell the team member what the plan is so they know what to expect. If they think they won’t get any lunch, they will become unhappy in work.

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On-shift breaks

• Team members should be given a 30-minute break for every six hours of consecutive work. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner breaks are unpaid unless on duty. You should try to ensure that no single member of the team is on duty for the entire meal service. During many excursions, students are given exploration time. This time is not considered a break for the Tour Guides, as they must interact with the students. Tour breaks are at lunch and dinner service. 

Language in action look to reward team members for their hard work throughout the summer programme. This may include social events outside of work hours, which are your responsibility to organise. These social events (e.g. karaoke, family dinner etc.) are the perfect opportunity for everyone to let off a bit of steam, get things off their chest, enjoy their time in the summer programme and relax. 

As a manager you should pay attention to conversations without turning it into a meeting, and without criticising the programme or the clients. It is a good time to pick up on any low-lying concerns or problems that you might want to address during work hours. 

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Being part of the team and showing the team that you can have fun, manage effectively, and be considerate of their experience, is a key trait of a good manager. 

Once each turn, you will need to organise a welcome social on campus for the full team and all group leaders. Your area manager will speak to you about this in more detail before the start of the programme. You should invite all team members, group leaders and senior management team.  

NOTE: at all times, you must ensure that students are supervised, and curfew is being monitored by either group leaders or campus leaders. There will be more than one social event, so you will have to rotate who is not at the social event.

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Alcohol and Drug Use

Smoking tobacco and vaping are not permitted within school or residential grounds and should only be done out of sight of students and clients. You should designate a smoking area for your team. 

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Drug use is strictly forbidden at any time during employment with Language in Action, this includes days off. The possession, use or distribution of drugs for non-medical purposes on our premises is strictly forbidden. If you have any concerns about a team member, speak to your Area Manager immediately. 

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Alcohol is permitted at certain business and social events, and team members are not prohibited from consuming alcohol on their days off. However, all employees must remember that for the entirety of their employment, whether on shift or not, they are representatives of the company, and must behave in such a way that does not negatively affect the company, its reputation, or its stakeholders.   

Alcohol consumption is permitted on the following basis:

• The employee is not on shift

• The employee is not due to be on shift at any time later that day

• It is consumed in moderation. 

• It is not consumed within 12 hours of starting a shift

• It is not consumed in view of students, group leaders and clients

• It is not consumed within the school campus grounds