Articles
As The Big Freeze Continues to Grip Britain
Almost every winter business is interrupted with a period of ‘unexpected' adverse weather which brings disruption to the transport networks. We look at the approach employers should take as their workforce struggles to attend work and deal with the domestic issues caused by widespread school closure.
What is the best way to plan for such eventualities? As this problem seems to occur most years, employers are encouraged to adopt a policy which tells everyone what they need to do if they can't get in to work. Ensure that employees know that they are expected to attend unless they are genuinely prevented from doing so, that management will investigate and, if appropriate, resort to disciplinary action where absence is unjustified or if the employee fails to properly communicate with their manager. A properly communicated, uniformly applied policy will discourage unnecessary absence.
When it is justifiable to take disciplinary action?
Employers must be consistent and ensure that there is uniformity throughout the organisation in dealing with these and indeed all absences. However, in order to be fair employers should distinguish the reasons for the absence. In some cases employees may be unable to attend because of school closures which force them to stay at home to arrange care for children. Employees have a legal right to take a "reasonable" amount of time to deal with such issues, provided they follow procedures which include communicating with the employer about the absence.
Can an employer make deductions from pay if employees fail to report for work?
Employees are entitled to be paid when they are ready and willing to work. Although employers may be able to make deductions from pay where the employee deliberately fails to attend, in other cases deductions should be exercised with extreme caution; deductions can only be made where authorised by the contract of employment or with the agreement of the employee. Case law and legal opinion is unclear as to whether an employee who tries and is unable to attend in such circumstances is ready and willing to work or not. Time off to deal with family emergencies (above) is unpaid. However, it would be unwise to create a two tier situation in which employees exercising the right to deal with a domestic emergency were unpaid, whist others who were unable to attend for other reasons were paid.
Can I force an employee to take holiday?
A practical solution is to offer the option to take a day's holiday where work is non-essential or will be disrupted even if the employee attends work. Under the Working Time Regulations, employers can require employees to take holiday provided reasonable notice is given (usually notice must be twice the period of holiday to be taken). In some cases, home working may be a viable alternative.
For more information on the above or for advice on any other employment issue please contact our employment department on 020 7354 3000 or e-mail employment@colmancoyle.com
Author Profile: Linda Quinn
Date: December 2010