Definitions

Unless expressly stated otherwise the following definitions shall apply to the terms used in these terms and conditions:

(1) DC Site Services Ltd whose principal place of business is at Belmont, Wycombe, Road Studley Green, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP14 3XB, United Kingdom. Registered in England & Wales, Cardiff 28 May 1993. Company No. 2821530 (hereinafter referred to as "DCSS").
(2) Applications are processed online via the DCSS instance of the PAAM Event Management Software (hereinafter referred to as "DCSS PAAM").
(3) When working with DCSS all employees must sign-in at the DCSS onsite office by the Event Specific Sign-In time and Date as specified in DCSS PAAM. The event specific sign-in time and date hereinafter referred to as "ESSID".
(4) Following application via DCSS PAAM and after paying a deposit; if you are allocated a position via DCSS PAAM you wish to cancel you must cancel the position both in writing (post and/or email) and by cancelling the position via the cancel function within your DCSS PAAM account (hereinafter referred to as "CANCEL" "CANCELLED"; "CANCELLATION"; "CANCELLING").

General

If you have any queries regarding the DCSS Terms and Conditions you are advised to contact DCSS in writing before submitting your application and paying your deposit.

By completing and submitting an application you are agreeing to abide by the DCSS:

  1. Terms and Conditions;
  2. Code of Conduct;
  3. Policies and Procedures;
  4. Client Rules and Regulations.
  5. You have the right to work in the UK and have appropriate documentation to verify this.

By completing and submitting an application you are agreeing to the submission of your email address to the DCSS newsletter and DCSS PAAM account notifications database.

By completing and submitting an application you are agreeing that any photographs; video; sound recordings taken of you or by you may be used by DCSS and the clients of DCSS for any promotional purposes.

By completing and submitting an application you are agreeing that for the safety of the general public prior to arrival onsite your personal details may be passed to the police to allow for a Police National Computer (PNC) check and/or Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check to be performed.

By completing and submitting an application you are agreeing that if your performance is deemed less than satisfactory by DCSS; you will be blacklisted thus unable to apply for further positions with DCSS and that this information will be passed to the festival organiser and via the festival organiser to their suppliers, contractors and other festival and event organisers.

When working as an employee of DCSS you are working under a fixed term employment contract. The specifics of positions with DCSS vary dependent on the event and role. The initial briefing and training sessions at each event form part of your employment contract, as does your agreement to work with DCSS for the duration of the event. Any failure on the employee's part to meet with their terms of employment; the DCSS Terms and Conditions; the DCSS Code of Conduct; the DCSS Policies and Procedures; DCSS Client’s Rules and Regulations; will result in forfeit of any remuneration and deposit paid; the requirement to pay any costs to DCSS that may have been incurred; and in the employee being blacklisted.

Borders and Immigration - proving your right to work and volunteer in the UK

To undertake any paid or unpaid work in the UK, you have to have the right to work either through your citizenship or a work visa. Under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act of 2006 DCSS is required to check your right to work before we can allow you to start work or commence any employment.

This means that before you can start working with us, you will need to produce documentation to prove you have this right. If you do not produce this documentation, we cannot let you work or volunteer with us.

The list of valid proof of right to work is produced by the UK Border Agency not by DCSS and these are the ONLY documents that will be accepted by DCSS. We need to see the original documents which means you need to bring them to the festival or event site. We also need to hold a copy of the documents.

If you hold either a UK or European Economic Area/Swiss passport or a non UK/EEA passport with a valid visa showing your right to work/volunteer in the UK this is acceptable proof.

If you do not have a passport, we can accept a long birth certificate AND either your National Insurance card or an official document from a previous employer with your NI number clearly shown.

A UK Driving Licence IS NOT valid as proof even in combination with a birth certificate or NI card.

We are required by law to store a scanned copy of your documents for at least two years after you have finished working or volunteering with us. We will keep your documents securely on encrypted disks, stored in a secure safe and on the highly secure PAAM servers. We will not share your documents with any third parties other than UK Borders and we will destroy them in an appropriate manner after the two years is up.

For more information please see the documents available via the link below:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/preventingillegalworking/

The most useful is the summary guidance for employers December 2010 which includes the full list of valid documents.

Deposits

Paying a deposit does not guarantee your position at an event; applications are assessed and positions allocated after a deposit has been paid.

Your deposit will be withheld and you will be blacklisted if you:

  1. Do not complete any shift allocated to you;
  2. Lose any uniform and/or equipment allocated to you*;
  3. Miss your onsite briefing/s;
  4. Do not sign in onsite by the ESSID and do not CANCEL at least 20 calendar days** prior to the ESSID.
  5. Breach the DCSS Terms & Conditions;
  6. Breach the DCSS Policies & Procedures;
  7. Breach the DCSS Code of Conduct;
  8. Breach any DCSS Client Rules and Regulations.

*For uniform and equipment losses and/or damage DCSS may only withhold part of your deposit; dependant on the value of the uniform/equipment lost/damaged.

**For example 20 calendar days prior to 20:00 on the 25th August would be 20:00 on the 5th August.

If you are blacklisted by DCSS you have the right to appeal; any appeal should be made in writing to DCSS.

If you apply to work at an event within the 20 day CANCELLATION period; where the ESSID for the event is less than 20 days away; you forfeit your right to CANCEL. E.g. if you apply to work at an event where the ESSID is less than 20 days away then either CANCEL or do not CANCEL and do not sign in onsite by the ESSID; your deposit will be withheld and you will be blacklisted.

Deposits are returned in October via bank transfer to the bank account specified by you in DCSS PAAM for the PAAM account holder.

DCSS takes no responsibility for any delay in returning deposits caused by postal services or an incorrect address in DCSS PAAM.

When returning non-cross border (UK) deposits that were paid to DCSS via PayPal; the deposit return will less PayPal's fees (3.4% + £0.20) rounded up to the nearest GBP.

When returning cross border (non-UK) deposits that were paid to DCSS via PayPal; the deposit return will less PayPal’s fees (variable dependant on the payment’s country of origin) rounded up to the nearest GBP.

If you do not gain a position due to failing a PNC and/or CRB check your deposit will be returned in October.

If you pay a deposit and CANCEL all applications and positions between 20 and 55 calendar days prior to the ESSID of the first event applied to; your deposit will be returned in October.

If you pay a deposit and CANCEL all applications and positions 56 or more calendar days prior to the ESSID of the first event applied to; subject to a £20.00 GBP administration fee you will be eligible for an early deposit return. Early deposit returns are processed on a monthly basis.

If you require a duplicate cheque to be sent due to not keeping your postal address up-to-date in DCSS PAAM this will be subject to an additional £12.50 GBP administration fee.

If you apply to work at more than one event; complete your shifts at one or more events; then CANCEL your position at all future events at least 20 calendar days prior to the ESSID of each event applied to; your deposit will be returned in October.

If you apply to work at more than one event; complete your shifts at one or more events; then CANCEL your position/s at one or more future events less than 20 calendar days prior to the ESSID of each event applied to; your deposit will be withheld and you will be blacklisted.

E.g. if you apply to work at two events, complete your shifts at the first event, then CANCEL the second event less than 20 calendar days prior to the event's ESSID, your deposit will be withheld and you will be blacklisted.

If you apply to work at more than one event and do not sign in onsite for the first event by the ESSID and do not CANCEL at least 20 calendar days prior to the first event's ESSID; your deposit will be withheld and you will be blacklisted.

You cannot move an application or position between events.

Employment Rights Act

The following information is a statement of the Terms and Conditions of employment under the employment rights act 1996.

  1. You are required to carry out your roles and responsibilities as detailed in the job description and position specification.
  2. Any previous employment with DCSS or any other employer does not form part of a period of continuous employment. Each position is subject to a separate contract of service.
  3. Your place of work will be the address of the event and is where you are required to work. Details will be given to you on CONFIRMATION of position.
  4. Your employers address is the DCSS principal place of business.
  5. You will be paid on the basis of an agreed rate per hour, shift, or event. This rate will be agreed with you at the CONFIRMATION of each position.
  6. There are no enhancements to stated rates for Weekends or Public Holidays.
  7. Staff are responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses**.
  8. Provision of meals or allowances are not negotiable and are paid under the discretion of the company directors.
  9. You are required to complete and return to the payroll office a signed tax declaration (P45, P46 or P38s) in order to be added to the payroll, failure will result in any remuneration being suspended until appropriate forms have been completed.  Further information about which tax form to complete is available on the HRMC website.
  10. Your remuneration will be paid to you as agreed at the CONFIRMATION of a position. Payments are made in GBP by bank transfer of the named individual member of staff.

Hours of work

The hours of work are detailed in the specification for each position.

Your employment is for a fixed period linked to each position.

The DCSS working week commences on Sunday.

Shifts are 6 (excluding breaks) to 12 hours (including breaks) long; the exact duration is event dependant; the time it takes you to sign-in and travel to and from your place of work is additional to your shift.

Entitlement for holiday only applies to staff working under an employment contract. Employees are entitled to Pro rata of a full year's holiday entitlement including any bank holidays worked during the period of their employment contract. Please note unless authorised by the board of Directors; Annual Leave cannot be taken between May and September due to the nature of the business. Holiday pay is payable in October upon receipt of an annual leave request form. All annual leave entitlements must be claimed within the dates of the fixed term employment contract.

In the case of incapacity for work you will forfeit any offer of employment; any allocated positions at current or future events; and receive no remuneration. This is due to the nature of the positions being for a fixed period.

DCSS does not operate any pension schemes to employees contracted for a fixed period.

Your employment contract is for a fixed term per assignment.

Your employment and CONFIRMATION of position are temporary and may be withdrawn at any time due to any of the following reasons:

  1. DCSS does not gain a contract of services at named event;
  2. The named event does not take place or is cancelled;
  3. You are in breach of the DCSS Terms & Conditions; DCSS Code of Conduct; DCSS Policies and Procedures; DCSS Client Rules and Regulations.

If you are dissatisfied with any disciplinary decision you should apply in the first instance to a DCSS Manager. You should make your application by speaking to a DCSS Manager who will document your conversation.

If you have a grievance about your employment you should apply in the first instance to a DCSS Manager. You should make your application in writing to the DCSS principal place of business.

Working on and access to sites

All DCSS staff must camp within the crew area specified by the event's DCSS Manager.

All DCSS staff will be issued with an appropriate pass by the client of whom DCSS is providing a service. This pass will enable the wearer to access those areas relevant to the position and responsibilities allocated. When off-shift and where authorised by a License Holder this pass may be used to access and participate in the event's public activities under the Terms and Conditions of the License. Any pass allocated will remain the property of the License Holder at all times.

Any pass is a functional tool DCSS staff require to carry out their duties. Breaching any License Holders Terms & Conditions; Policies and Procedures; Code of Conduct; Rules and Regulations will also be a breach of your employment Terms and Conditions with DCSS.