Adverse Weather Conditions - Advice for Employers

The Beast From the East is on its way! Like Storm Ophelia in October 2017, the adverse weather conditions may cause a number of headaches for employers. How can you as an employer deal with this? What are your obligations? Our experts are here to help... As we all know, employees can sometimes struggle to get to and from work in adverse weather conditions, so what do you do if an employee is unable to attend work? If an employee is unable to attend work due to adverse weather conditions, you would not be required to compensate the employee as you have not breached the terms of the employee’s contract, as they have explained that they are unable to attend work. If this is the case, it would be advisable to consult with the employee on their return to work and give them the option of taking annual leave or unpaid leave on this day. If you make the decision not to open the business, you would be obliged to compensate the employee if reasonable notice of the closure was not given. This is due to the fact that the terms of the employee’s contract would be breached. If you can foresee this closure happening and you have a Lay–Off and Reduced Hours policy in place, you can look at enforcing this. In the absence of an employee handbook, employers should consider previous custom and practice. In light of the above, it is very important that as an employer you have the appropriate clauses in your employee handbook in relation to Adverse Weather conditions and Lay–Off. If you have any questions in relation to adverse weather conditions, please contact our expert employment law advisors on the 24 Hour Advice Service on 0818 923 923