A Hoppy Place’s code of conduct for employees and staff
Intro
Welcome to A Hoppy Place. As we grow, it’s essential we formalise procedures
regarding team interaction, policies on look and feel of the premises, expectations of appropriate customer behaviour and expectations regarding the behaviours of our staff when on shift or otherwise representing the company.
The goal of this document is to give managers a framework within which they can run
their bars / interact with eachother, as well as to ensure we continue to run a business in which our customers are safe and comfortable.
Bar Ethos, Diversity & Inclusion
First and foremost – every one of these policies is designed to make sure employees trust their colleagues and their managers. Equally important to consider is how our bars should feel to our customers.
Naomi and Dave have both experienced workplace discrimination in employment prior to Hoppy, and we see so many bars and breweries talk about their ‘high performance culture’, or stand idly by whilst it’s clear their customers have a bad time.
It is critical to us that we operate an inclusive, diverse space free of discrimination for any reason.
Any harassment or negative behaviours based on any characteristic of any customer or staff member will never be tolerated. Our continued aim is to guarantee an experience for all our staff and customers that is free of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or any form of discriminaton. Everyone is welcome here; our mantra is very simply “craft beer for all”. We proudly follow the Everyone Welcome Initiative for this reason.
To that end, our intention is also to guarantee that our ethos is reflected in the companies we work with. We will not stock products or collaborate with businesses known to endorse or perpetuate discriminatory behaviour, as we wish to highlight the good within the industry rather than condoning toxic business practices.
Drink choice equally is not discriminated against by our business. Lager drinkers, ale drinkers, cider drinkers, tea and coffee drinkers. Softs, spirits, wine and everything in-between. We are very proud of our range of alcohol-free products.
Children and pets accompanied by an adult are always welcome in our bars, unless the local authority in some way restricts it.
We not only run an internal grievance procedure (see below) to ensure the safety of our staff, but also wish for all of customers to know that we will take any matters of discrimination very seriously. If you have been made to feel uncomfortable, we encourage you to raise it with one of the staff on duty (if you feel safe to do so) who will take appropriate action with your wishes taken into account. If you do not feel comfortable to raise an issue in person or wish to make us aware of potential issues, we encourage you to contact dave@ahoppyplace.co.uk to implement preventative measures and/or resolve any problems. If you are concerned for your safety in one of our bars, our staff are trained and conscious of the “Ask For Angela” initiative and will assist in getting you to a safe space or removing/reporting perpetrators of harassment or threatening behaviour.
Employee Best Practices, Abridged
We trust our staff to create a warm and welcoming environment for our customers, and wish to lead by example in terms of treating our team with respect and dignity in the workplace.
Listed below are some key tenets of our internal employee code of conduct. A full unabridged edition can be requested by contacting dave@ahoppyplace.co.uk – we wish to be completely transparent in the treatment of everyone in our business.
Training
All staff deserve equal access to personal development. We may not be able to push the boat out for some very expensive individual training, but no individual will ever knowingly be discriminated against.
Training includes cellar training, sommelier or Cicerone schemes, food hygeine or st johns ambulance etc. We are open to other suggestions, there’s no limit on training providers or scope.
We aim to build careers, not churn staff. This is offered on a trust basis. If you end up leaving the company down the line, you do not need to pay us back. We hope we’ll be a nice enough place to work that you don’t want to leave, but what’s right for you is right for you.
Pay
Pay in all of our sites will always exceed the London living wage.
Social Media and off-shift policy
Whenever you are in our bar, you are representing our business. Whether you are working or
not. We are a small community and people will remember what happened whether or not you
were employed at that time or not. Furthermore, social media posts must be written with
consideration of any possible impact upon our business. This is not to say we will ever
monitor or vet anything, but we’d not like to hear that for example one of our regular customers was
insulted or similar. If in doubt, check with Dave or Naomi.
On-Shift de-escalation
There’s no singular, formal, “one-size-fits-all” rule here, other than to be civil in cases of simple disagreement. All issues must be judged on a case-by-case basis, but the key matters are a zero-tolerance policy to discriminatory language and not to exacerbate any situation as a staff member by involving oneself in an argument. Our aim must always be to de-escalate by any means possible.
If a customer ever makes staff feel in any way concerned or threatened, all staff members will be given the benefit of the doubt. Our business is not more important than staff and customer safety. We must always be known as a safe venue. If you need to act due to this, have no reservations: We have your back.
As a small team of humans, we will occasionally fall out with eachother. If you need to have a chat with someone you’re on
shift with, find an opportunity to do it away from customers. If you need to tell off a
customer, try and take them to the side also.
The main positive of Hoppy Place is the atmosphere we create, so always work to keep the
environment friendly and not hostile.
We often ask eachother if we should cut someone off, or whether to ID someone, before
acting alone. It’s no problem to double check it before acting and is less likely to lead to
frustration between staff, customers, or mistakes being made.
On-shift drinking
We don’t mind staff having 1-2 beers on shift, so long as they perform all of their duties, behave safely and respectfully throughout their shift. and do not make any alcohol attributable mistakes during close down. We need to be able to
sample beer to discuss it with our customers and beer is probably our main hobby.
Grievances.
If you ever need to raise anything about the way you’ve been treated by any staff member or
customer above and beyond your local shop, or have any personal concerns at all – then in
the first instance please raise these with Dave. dave@ahoppyplace.co.uk .
If you are not comfortable doing this, then either Jason or Naomi are your next ports of all. We sincerely
hope no severe escalation ever occurs but also recommend potentially joining Unite
Hospitality to lean on external support if you’re ever uncomfortable with the company. We
support all of our staff in unionising should they wish.
We’re here to help and we care very deeply about the needs of every single staff member,
inclusive of all the following pillars and certainly more: Mental and Physical Wellbeing,
Employee positive working relationships, escalation procedures in case of any issues,
Personal and Professional Development.
Policies not mentioned herein.
If you believe something extra could or should be in writing, raise it with Dave or Naomi. If
you have any concerns about anything already in writing, same same.
Fundamentally we’re here to build an awesome business and if we all pull in the same
direction, we’re sure we can do it together.
Thank you so much for being a part of it.
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