A belated snow and pay question.

jdturk

alunharford wrote: »

Bear in mind that as an employer you have a duty of care to your employees. If your policy causes an employee to drive to work in conditions beyond their ability and there is an accident as a result then you're in serious trouble.

because an employee has no duty of care to themselves huh! common sense should prevail and if the businesses policy is along the lines of

you must come into work unless the weather conditions are so bad that to drive in them would be dangerous. If you are unable to drive you must find other methods to get in safely. If you are unable to do this then you must stay at home unpaid.

then that would cover them IMO

(but I'm not guarantteing it!!!)

aj2703

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Choosing whether or not to drive in snow is reasonable but then it's up to the employee to find alternative ways of getting to and from work, whether that's having a lift, walking or taking public transport. I don't think that it's the employer's responsibility to pay when the employee isn't at work because of a personal choice.

Hate to admit it but i agree. My OH is an accountant for the NHS. Back in Feb we had snow. We also live ontop of a very steep hill. When she went out to her car one of our neighbours tried to drive out of our cul de sac which is up a slight incline and about 20 metres in length. He was skidding everywhere and she said no-way am i even gonna attempt it. She phoned in work and told them, to which they were fine about it, but she was told that anyone failing to get in would not be paid. She in turn was fine with that.

pillion

Driving in the snow terrifies me and I can readily accept where possible workers should be allowed to go home early for safety reasons or not punished if they are unable to get into work but a care home environment is very different. The residents of the care home are dependent on the staff and the staff need to be there. Members of staff cannot just walk out because it is snowing, what if they all said they needed to go? What happens if the oncoming shift are unable to get in? It may sound harsh but except in exceptional circumstances eg. having to collect children from nursery, then the staff have to stay because the residents need them there.

MrsE_2

aj2703 wrote: »

Hate to admit it but i agree. My OH is an accountant for the NHS. Back in Feb we had snow. We also live ontop of a very steep hill. When she went out to her car one of our neighbours tried to drive out of our cul de sac which is up a slight incline and about 20 metres in length. He was skidding everywhere and she said no-way am i even gonna attempt it. She phoned in work and told them, to which they were fine about it, but she was told that anyone failing to get in would not be paid. She in turn was fine with that.

Really?

I was chatting to my doctor the other day about this.

I work for the LA & (last Feb) people who didn't get in didn't get docked pay & didn't have to take it as holiday. But those who struggled in got nothing.
He said (in his NHS area), if you made it in, you got an extra days holiday.

borders_dude

People who dont turn up to work or leave early because of snow shouldnt be paid full stop.

Its not the employers fault the worker cant get in, therefore shouldnt be paying the worker.

Its not the workers fault but it is their responsibility to get into work, if they dont they shouldnt be paid.

This should particularly apply to those being paid out of the public purse!

aj2703

MrsE wrote: »

Really?

I was chatting to my doctor the other day about this.

I work for the LA & (last Feb) people who didn't get in didn't get docked pay & didn't have to take it as holiday. But those who struggled in got nothing.
He said (in his NHS area), if you made it in, you got an extra days holiday.

She said in her department they don't get an extra days holiday at all for getting in when the weather is bad. She has though literally just said that in the end when she went in the day after, her manager did say she could take it as special leave and not have to go unpaid. (my apologies up untill this thread i always thought it was as first stated unpaid). She has said though that she has 3 days a year she can take as special leave but after that it is unpaid or holiday.

MessyMare

I didn't get paid for having a snow day- in the end we had 20cm in my area, and seeing as I'd have to get up a very steep hill before I even considered the 45 mile trip to work, I didn't go! However I did know that I would not be paid...which is fair, imo

Oldernotwiser

pillion wrote: »

Driving in the snow terrifies me and I can readily accept where possible workers should be allowed to go home early for safety reasons or not punished if they are unable to get into work .

But you have to get to work (or take leave) if your car is off the road for any reason - I don't think that avoiding driving in the snow is any different.

Lakeuk

I think that change to the policy is needed so that any time missed needs to be made up.

I was in this position last week, I prewarned work on Thursday that I may not be in work on the Monday due to pridicted snow (hows that for foresight). I live in a valley which usually gets no snow but the surrounding hills do. It snowed on the Sunday, I had pretty much decided not to go in the next day. On the Monday I got up at the normally time and checked the weather forecast which was forcasting more snow (it had snowed overnight) and also checked the traffic reports (I have a 65mile journey to work) and based on it emailed everyone at work that I wasn't going to come in. Luckily I have the facilities to do my job at home. They are others at work that live within a mile of me at various parts of the town, majority didn't attempt the journey, one group did and where it normally takes an hour it took them 2.5hrs. Now it's not a simple case of saying, this group got in so why couldn't you as the road conditions are so different from street to street.

If I couldn't get into work and also wasn't in a position to do my work at work then I would need to catchup on my hours

pillion

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

But you have to get to work (or take leave) if your car is off the road for any reason - I don't think that avoiding driving in the snow is any different.

You're absolutely right and as a Care Home Manager I expect staff to make alternative arrangements should their car be off the road.