Should I pay employee’s who cannot attend work because of bad weather?
Now that the silly season has passed, everyone is facing into a new year – and a potentially severe winter in 2020…. Extreme weather can impact on your employee’s ability to attend work. We experienced this with storms Emma and Ophelia. While an unexpected day off was welcomed by most employees, the issue of getting paid for that day was another matter.
Employers are not obliged to pay employees who cannot attend work because of bad weather. Employees do not have an automatic entitlement to a day’s pay. However, as problems getting to work may be outside your employees’ control, it can be argued that it is unfair not to pay them. This also applies where you as their employer may decide to close your business. Health and safety issues may arise if employees feel pressure to go to work in dangerous conditions under the threat of disciplinary action or by not being paid. Employee relations and productivity may also be affected.
So, should an employer pay an employee who is late or who fails to turn up for work as a result of bad weather?
This normally depends on whether the non-attendance is due to the decision of the employer or the employee. If the employer decides to close their premises, or send employees home because of bad weather, then generally, they should pay their employees. If the workplace is open and work is available but the employee themselves chooses not to come to work, arrives late or leaves early, an employer would have no obligation to pay the employee for their absence.
It is advised that employers look at this on a case by case basis and adopt a balanced approach. Be flexible – consider alternatives to with-holding pay such as allowing your employees use annual leave for days they are not able to travel to work, allow staff to work up time missed or can your staff temporarily work from home?
You should be careful not to get caught out – have clear policies around issues such as getting to work and managing unexpected leave requests. Communicate these to your staff now. Potential absenteeism issues resulting from extreme weather looks set to continue and as an employer, you will benefit from setting out in advance the ground rules your employees should follow when this occurs.
New Year, New HR You!
Start 2020 with some HR goals to put you on the front foot. Make your goals achievable and easy and you won’t be one of the 80% of people whose resolutions have fallen by the wayside by February 1st! Consider how technology could help you achieve a leaner you in 2020.
1. Cut out the fat…
Hate all those repetitive admin tasks that keep popping up over and over like manually recording your employees annual leave, amending employees’ personal details, making sure they are receiving and reading important company updates? Well, now is the time to get rid of them. Consider how an online platform could take care of those tasks and many more.
2. Get out and about more…
Manage your HR tasks from almost anywhere by using your Employer Dashboard to monitor your employees annual leave requests, review your payroll reports and keep an eye on your Revenue payments. As long as you have an internet enabled device, it can all be at your fingertips… anytime, anywhere!
3. Communicate better…
Use online document upload features to distribute, track and manage any information you want your staff to have access to. Contracts, policies, training, schedules, you name it. You have the peace of mind of knowing your employees have that information at their fingertips and that you can see a log of when and how often the are accessing it.
4. Face your fears….
GDPR and cyber security. The two scariest words in the English language. Free yourself from that fear with a robust online portal. Fully secure servers, individually password protected and fully GDPR compliant.
