Freelance Associate Policies and Resources

Anti bullying and discrimination policy

ETO is committed to providing a working environment free from harassment and bullying and ensuring all staff are treated, and treat others, with dignity and respect.

Associates Complaints Procedure

During your time with us, should any issues arise, it is important that you know the steps to take to find resolution.

We encourage the first port of call to be resolution by constructive conversation with the individual/s concerned or with the Company Stage Manager, then advice from our Producer if necessary.

If a resolution or course of action still cannot be found, ETO offers a grievance procedure in line with the one available to full time employees, which you can read by clicking on the links above.

Environmental Policy

ETO strives to reduce its environmental footprint and we would ask you to help us by:

• Washing up mugs rather than use disposable cups
• Making use of recycling stations where available
• Viewing schedules and information in e-format rather than printing copies where possible
• Using public transport or cycle to get to rehearsals, wherever possible
• Liaising with other company members to arrange car-shares whilst on tour, or travel by train

Health and Safety Policy

ETO is committed to protecting the Health and Safety of all involved in our work

Further Information about working with English Touring Opera

Rehearsals & Schedules

Rehearsal Schedules

Weekly schedules will be sent via email by the end of the previous week. As ever these are subject to change and are superseded by any daily updatesso please keep yourself available unless you have an N/A. Please read them carefully and respond with any questions.

Rehearsal sessions at Toynbee will usually be Monday – Friday, 10.00 – 17.00 & Saturday 10.00 to 13.00. There may be occasional variances, but these are more likely to be the odd half hour here and there or shifting the lunch break to accommodate a studio run rather than additional sessions.

Absence from Rehearsals

If you are unable to attend rehearsals due to illness, please contact our CSM Ben, as soon as possible. Please call the CSM phone on 07534 431346, and if you are unable to get through please follow up with a WhatsApp or text.

Cover Rehearsals

Covers are required to attend any rehearsals when the person they are covering is called on the weekly schedules, when they are not called elsewhere. Please be ready to participate when called to do so.

In addition to music coachings, there will also be cover production calls on Saturday mornings.

Fees, Tour Accommodation, Subsistence & Travel

Bank Forms, Fees & Pay Advice

You should have already received and returned a registration form which asks for your bank details. We cannot pay you unless you have completed and returned this form. Fees are paid on the dates specified on the pay schedule document. Pay advice (payslips) will be emailed to you on the Friday pay date by our Associate Producer Jo Corrigan.

Accommodation and Subsistence

Company members are responsible for booking their own tour accommodation and are entitled to £90.00 per night subsistence for each performance night outside the M25, and night before for certain venues (York, Truro, Durham, Buxton, Exeter, Poole) when requested. ‘Night Before Payment’ forms have been sent out (https://forms.gle/yZyqMdRL15APMswT6), for you to indicate which venue towns/cities you will arrive at the night before, to ensure you are paid the correct amount. Subsistence is paid approximately one month in advance. You must respond to the Night Before form by Friday 28^th February 2025 please, or it will not be paid.

If due to your home location you can make better use of the Night Before payments that we are able to offer at another venue, you can transfer these to the other venue if this suits your circumstances better. For example, if you live in the north of England and therefore in easy reach of e.g. Buxton, you can request to use that night before payment at another venue that would otherwise be considered ineligible, such as Crawley. Please simply inform our CSM Ben of the ‘swap’ you have made.

If once you have arranged how you will reallocate the ‘Night Befores’ as above, there are still venues to which you cannot reasonably travel on the day of the performance and be in your best vocal, physical and mental health, please send a list of these to Jo Corrigan (jo.corrigan@englishtouringopera.org.uk) to request additional night before payments for these venues attaching receipts. Once approved, these will be included in the next pay run after your request is received.

Travel

Company members are responsible for booking their own travel and will receive payments for each performing venue outside the M25 based on the below travel bands. Payment dates are listed on the pay schedule and are paid approximately one month in advance to enable you to take advantage of advance rail fares which we strongly encourage you do as soon as you can.

2024/2025 Travel Bands for Spring 2025

Band A - M25 - 150 miles - £33.66 (Canterbury, Crawley)

Band B – 151 - 200 miles - £46.01 - NA

Band C - 201 - 275 miles - £63.89 (Norwich, Poole, Snape)

Band D - 276 - 400 miles - £86.60 (Buxton, Exeter, Sheffield)

Band E – 401 - 600 miles - £120.13 (Durham, York)

Band F – 601 - 700 miles - £134.19 (Truro)

Band G - 701 - 1000 miles - £179.82 – NA

For L&P Venues which are over 3 miles from the Main Stage venue, please refer to the L&P Travel Policy.

Arrival at venues

To view our tour venues on Google Maps, please click HERE

For venues outside the M25, artists are required to arrive in the venue town/city by 2.00pm on the day of the performance, however we would encourage you to take advantage of the ‘Night Before Payment’ where available and arrive the night before when it requires a journey of more than 2 hours on the day.

Please contact the Company Stage Manager by 2.00pm (unless otherwise called) on the first performance day at a new venue to confirm you have arrived. If we haven’t heard from you by 2.00pm Ben will chase you!

There will be a balance call at each venue, usually around 2 hours and 10 mins prior to the performance curtain up time.

Absence from performance

All artists: If you are unable to perform at a dress rehearsal or performance, please contact the Company Stage Manager on 07534 431346 as soon as possible, but not later than 11am. If you don't get through immediately, please send a WhatsApp message and the CSM will contact you asap. Please talk directly to the CSM, and if you have a cover, please DO NOT contact your cover yourself. You must be the person to call unless you are physically unable to do so.

For principals and conductors: The CSM will also contact you at 11am if they haven't heard from you, just to confirm that all is well before standing down your cover.

For covers: If it is necessary for a cover to go on, or to be on stand-by, they will be contacted as soon as possible. More notice will be given whenever possible. If all is well, covers will be stood down by midday (again, sooner where possible). If additional rehearsals are necessary on the day of a performance, you will be given as much notice as possible, and your flexibility and understanding will be appreciated.

For L&P Artists, please contact the L&P Stage Manager by 5pm the night before you are due to perform.

Make-up

Singers are required to provide their own make-up. Please remember to bring this with you for the first stage rehearsal. Any special effect, ageing or unique colours will be provided by the company.

First Aid

Qualified First Aiders in the Company include Ryan Watson (Head of Production), Josefine Bruun-Meyer (Assistant Stage Manager), Gemma Morsley (Artistic Administrator) and Paul Barnes (L&P Stage Manager). The Stage Management team have first aid kits, ice packs and an accident book. On tour these will be kept near the stage and each venue will also have a named First Aider. Please remember that ETO is not permitted to dispense drugs of any kind.

Our Mental Health First Aiders are Gemma Morsley (Artistic Administrator), Ryan Watson (Head of Production), Josefine Bruun-Meyer (Assistant Stage Manager), Joe Kirk (Production Electrician) and Ruth Ross (Deputy Orchestra Manager). A Mental Health First Aider can help a person developing a mental health problem, experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health problem or in a mental health crisis.

Ryan Watson is the Company Grief First Aider. A Grief First Aider can provide initial support and guidance to those experiencing bereavement.

Allergies & Medical Info

If you have any allergies, please inform the Company Stage Manager. If there is anything else you would like to tell us to help in the event of you being taken ill, such as medication you take, if you are diabetic, etc, please let the Company Stage Manager know. Information will be kept confidential.

Scores

Scores remain the property of ETO and must be returned at the end of the engagement in good condition. Please do not mark scores in ink or highlighters. You may not copy or photocopy any part of the scores. Failure to return your score will incur a financial penalty.

NAs

In this very busy season, ETO are unlikely to be able to grant further scheduled NA requests during the rehearsal period at this stage. We can certainly consider NAs for external engagements during the tour on days when there is no ETO activity for which permission will not be unreasonably withheld. All post contractual requests should be made in writing to the Artistic Administrator on gemma.morsley@etopera.org.uk who will liaise with the relevant creative teams.

All NAs will be confirmed in writing.

Complimentary Tickets

Each member of the touring company can request up to two complimentary tickets over the tour from the allocation provided to ETO by the venue (excluding Hackney Empire and the New Diorama Theatre). Complimentary tickets are allocated strictly on a first-come-first-served basis – as they are available at the venue’s discretion, ETO cannot guarantee availability. Requests for complimentary tickets should be submitted in writing to the Company Stage Manager as soon as possible.

There will also be company reduced-rate tickets at all venues (subject to availability), and you will be sent codes for these about 2 weeks prior to the date so you can book tickets yourself online. It’s often a very generous discount (up to 50%).

For L&P Artists, you are welcome to invite guests to school performances. Please contact the L&P Assistant Producer with the guest's name, venue and date. The guest will need to bring a form of ID with them and a DBS certificate (if they have one). Comp tickets for public performances are limited and cannot be guaranteed.

Marketing and Press

You may be asked to give interviews (normally over the telephone) or take part in photo shoots as part of ETO’s press and marketing activities. Co-operation is appreciated as it helps to fill houses and enhance the visibility of all parties. Members of ETO’s marketing team, William Vignoles – Marketing & Communications Manager, Bronte Skey – Campaigns Officer and Alexa Sorensen – Digital Marketing Officer, may visit rehearsals from time to time to collect footage for promotional purposes.

Old Vic Guardian Scheme

ETO offer a First Contact or ‘Guardian’ scheme where you can talk confidentially to a member of staff about any concerns you may have, without having to make a formal complaint and with no risk of escalation. This could be about something serious or a more everyday matter.

The Guardian is there to offer neutral support and, where relevant, to advise upon which processes and staff may assist. Guardians respect and maintain absolute confidentiality over issues raised with them except cases in which the issues might amount to a criminal offence. Guardians are not in post to call out inappropriate practice; nor intervene and try to fix problems.

To set up a meeting please email one of ETO’s Guardians so you can arrange to meet in a safe space.

ETO’s current Guardians are:

Maddy Barnes (Learning & Participation Producer) - maddyguardianeto@gmail.com

Olivia Collins (Development Manager) - oliviaguardianeto@gmail.com

Bilal Khan (Finance Offer) - bilalguardianeto@gmail.com

The scheme has been pioneered by the Old Vic. You can find further details about it HERE.