THE EZHR GUIDE TO ADVERSE WEATHER

Over the weekend we saw some heavy snowfall with a major incident declared in Cumbria, with more weather warnings issued.

While UK weather can give you all the seasons in one day. The impact of a short period of extreme, and disruptive, weather can cause a wide variety of issues for employers. To help you navigate these issues we’ve prepared a guide for employers trying to navigate adverse weather conditions.

Be Prepared!

While it may sometimes feel that there is always a suggestion of a storm that is nothing but a breeze, employers generally know the local area and the conditions that are likely to arise whether it be snow, flooding, etc. If it appears that people may be unable to travel or be impacted, assess your options. Think about what normally happens and work will work for you as a business. There is no one who knows your local area, infrastructure and the challenges like you and your team.    

Employee Safety First

If bad weather does look like it is on the horizon encourage employees to plan their travel routes for safety. If there is any doubt about their ability to travel in or out of work, it’s better to stay put.

If you have prior warning, or even after the event, consider how you can utilise flexible working arrangements or remote work during severe weather. Whether this is issuing laptops, or using VPNs, for those that utilise this. Additionally, consider whether you can re-organise shifts or the week's work patterns.

Emergency Leave

Also, consider the impact of other employers and service providers. If schools close, people don’t have access to their support network or need to support dependents people will come across unexpected issues. People do have a right to Time Off For Dependents in the event of emergencies. While these situations are likely to be an emergency, this is where the importance of planning can be helpful.

Safety

You need to make sure that your workplace is safe and accessible, with measures like gritting icy paths. This means that you need to be clear with teams about whether they can come in, and what they need to do now and next. So if you do need to amend how you work stay in touch and use emails, texts, or a dedicated app to keep everyone updated about office closures or changes in working arrangements.

Pay and Working hours

During this time it’s good to be clear about pay, and what it means for you and your employees. Each situation is slightly different, while people who can’t attend work don’t have an automatic right to pay. If you choose to send people home or shut your site for the day you still need to pay people. This is why some employers try to reorganise, or bank hours, so teams can sort out any dependant issues and get paid. Thus allowing an employer to get the hours back at a later date, though this needs to be agreed at the time if it's not already agreed in a policy of some description.

Those with disabilities

Also, you need to consider those who may not be physically able to attend work and suffer from a disability. You need to consider each circumstance on its own merits and it's critical to get the right advice, unilateral; imposition of actions is not always helpful and can still get you in trouble.

What happens next 

After the event, you’re likely to have a number of issues to deal with, depending on the issues try to deal with things on a case-by-case basis. However, there may be ways to see common issues and groups at large. If you do take that approach make sure that people don’t get lost in the process and that teams are appropriately supported

By being prepared and flexible, you can ensure that adverse weather causes minimal disruption to your business and your employees. Remember, safety comes first!

If you need any help with disruption to your business or a new adverse weather policy please don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@ezhr.uk or 0161 843 5678.