Snow and staff absence costing you money?

5th January 2010

Read this article to find out how to deal with the HR fallout from severe weather.

Employers may lose out on the ability to deliver services on time, especially if key staff do not report for work. So – what can be done? Here are some answers to common questions.

How can we ensure that staff are not using bad weather as an excuse to have some extra days off work?

Staff that cannot attend work must still comply with your attendance policy (i.e. call you in good time to let you know they are not attending, and keep you updated as to their situation).

Staff should be reminded that they need to make reasonable efforts to attend work e.g. walk to the bus-stop to see if buses are running, clear snow from their car / drive.
Normally, bad weather is indicated by a serious weather warning from the Met office. If your part of the map is coloured orange or red on their website, then this is a good sign that weather is severe enough to hamper travel.

Staff should be prepared to prove that they have been unable to take their normal mode of transport to work, or any feasible alternative (e.g. swapping their bus for a train journey).

Are we responsible as employers if employees injure themselves attempting to get to work in bad weather?

In most cases, an employer would not legally be to blame if one of their employees injured themselves trying to get to work. You may be liable if you have not taken reasonable steps to maintain health and safety on your own premises (i.e. you may still be held liable for slips and trips in your car park or at your entrance).

Do we have to pay employees that do not turn up for work due to bad weather?

You are under no legal obligation to pay employees that fail to report for work during their contracted hours. At your discretion, you may insist that these days are taken as annual leave. You may even discipline workers who continually fail to attend.

A common approach is to insist that days lost to severe weather are taken as annual leave, or as unpaid leave at the employees discretion.

Are there any exceptions to this?

In most cases not paying staff and/or disciplining them may be seen as somewhat harsh. This is especially true if this not a usual custom and practice in your organisation. If you do wish to apply sanctions to employees that fail to attend due to bad weather, it is important to unfairness that may lead to grievances, or claims of discrimination. Our advice is to continue to pay employees who cannot attend due to poor weather, until you have had a chance to draw up a fair policy and communicate it to all your staff.

You may have some employees who occasionally work from home or a more accessible location. If this is something they are accustomed to doing, then you will need to allow them to work from home during times of bad weather. You may continue to monitor their work in your normal way.

If other employees can fulfil their work from home, then although you are not obligated to, it is best to allow them to do this on a one-off basis – again, they should be made aware of working from home policies and procedures.

What policies and procedures should we have in place to deal with this situation?

The following policies should be introduced, reviewed or updated:
- Sickness and absence
- Flexible working
- Working from home

You may wish to introduce a specific severe weather policy – we will be happy to draft one for you on request!