HM,

I have run into this policy before, but I think you were just lucky, as I have been when it applied to me. Looking back across the years and the institutions I have worked at, I think the more generous museums have been ones that rarely close for any reason. The type that are only closed Christmas and Thanksgiving. Since they tend to need people to work 363 days a year, they tended to have a more standardized, beneficent policy and it is exactly the one you note. If you are regularly scheduled, you get paid what you were scheduled and that applied to full time and part time. At these institutions it was typical for many full time people to work Saturdays and Sundays. At the end of the day, I think it was just easier on whoever was in charge of processing time sheets to set one policy and stick to it for everyone.

Other places, probably most,  don't pay if you to not be at work. As another poster noted, most part-time workers understand this is part of the deal. I think it is great you want to institute some sort of policy that might pay them anyway.

I know the original poster didn't ask this specific question, but one wrinkle that I ran into a lot when I was in charge of implementing school programs was part-time docents who showed up for work, but the school or group they were scheduled to host was cancelled (for whatever reason, but bad weather in the school's home district was popular. Even a one hour delay can cancel a field trip) and so they had nothing to do. Sometimes this killed their whole day, sometimes it just left them with a gap. At the time, it was the law in my state that if you required someone to be at work and they showed up to work, the state required a minimum number of hours to be paid. (I believe it was either 3 or 4 hours) We were "lucky" at that institution because we had lots of hands-on programs that required lots prep, so there was pretty much always something for idle docents to do. But I can imagine at other institutions sending people home not having worked, but required to pay them for a minimum number of hours anyway.

Of course that was over ten years ago and my nickel sketch above should not be trusted for your policy making. Look up the laws in your state in case this might apply to you.

Good luck.

Matthew White




On Dec 9, 2013, at 4:12 PM, Heather Marie Wells <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 
> At all the museums where I worked as an hourly employee (both part-time and full-time), if I was scheduled to work and the museum closed I was still paid.  This was in educational and collections management jobs for city funded, university funded, and privately funded museums.  I'll also say that is the way I've been treated as an hourly employee in other fields.
> 
> I'm sorry to say I don't know if this just that I've been lucky to work at businesses where this is the policy or if it's the law in my state.
> 
> Thanks,
> HM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From: Carol Ely <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Monday, December 9, 2013 2:53 PM
> To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Snow policy
> 
> What do you do about paying hourly employees when you must close due to weather or other emergency? Our maintenance staff are still expected to work if and when they can safely arrive, but what about part-time program staff?  They are not needed when we are closed, but they’ve arranged their lives to be available for work at that time, and count on the income. According to state law, we have no obligation to pay them at all, but we want to retain their goodwill and the investment we’ve put into training them. How do other museums handle this? Our employee handbook is silent on this, and I need to set a policy and amend the handbook.
>  
> Thanks for your ideas.
>  
> Carol Ely
> Executive Director
> Locust Grove, Louisville
> 
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