Being forced to work hours back - snow

piratefairy

Yea, will do that once all the weather is over..Think it's more the assumption than anything else, but from our POV, the recession makes business hard enough..The contracts also say that had we not had eneough work on at a certain time, employees can be sent home without pay..not that we do/are likely to, but respect works both ways.

blckbrd

Most people make a choice about where they live and work. I've worked in London with people who travel from Brighton and Newark. Their choice. 20 mins on the tube on a hot day is too much for me so I spend an extra 45 mins going by bus. My choice.

The weather is unpredictable and it's not for employers to indemnify employees against related travel difficulties. How, in anyone's head is that reasonable?

Perhaps a claim could be submitted against God/Mother Nature... anyone got thier address for service?

hstudent

A company would usually do one of three things:
a) You make up the time later on.
b) You have the day taken from your holiday's allowance.
c) If possible you do work from home.
d) Unpaid holiday.

Your company may give you a choice.

Remember if you've paid for public transport to get to work and it doesn't run you should be able to get either a refund or travel vouchers.

aj2703

You know i agree you can't always get in. But in the same light you should at least try to. You guys should think yourselves lucky. I have been to a few interviews recently and as soon as my location is mentioned the chances have gone down virtually to Zero. I live on the Isle of Wight and am reliant on the Fast cat or hovercraft. As soon as employers go down the how will you get to work if they arn't running route, short of saying well i guess i could fly over the job has gone...!

poet123

If you live within reasonable walking distance that is fine, but the advice to drivers is to stay at home. Where I am no taxis ( taxi booked for son this morning cancelled) or buses are running, and aiports are closed and so are all the banks,schools and colleges.

So unless you can walk, you cannot get to work.

desperado2

euronorris wrote: »

I didn't mean to suggest that they should be paid for travel time. What I'm saying is that, spending 2-3 hours trying to get to the office is just not a sensible option at times.

The OP is asking about being asked to make up the time.. - the decision by the worker whether to put in extra effort to attend paid work is secondary to that except where an employer deems an employee to have taken reasonable steps to attend. "sensible" is really far too subjective.. I might agree that bobsleding round the M25 is Extreme, but where it is possible to get to work, the comparison is "do I value a days pay enough to make the effort required" not "I have better things to do with my time.. one of those better things is showing up for work surely... :rolleyes:

euronorris wrote: »

If the buses don't start running until, let's say 7am or 8am, then you will almost certainly be late. And you would then (possibly) need to leave early, in order to ensure that you can get home again (the situation may have worsened during this time, it may not have - it depends on the day).

An arbtrary point and not really relevant to the OP.. who may live in London and be blessed with Night Buss services as well as Daytime ones, or services that start running at 5.30am as they do here in the grim bit of Lanacshire..

euronorris wrote: »

To me, that is a lot of time wasted on travelling that could be spent either a) working from home or b) doing overtime once weather had improved.

I just don't see the value of sitting in traffic, or on train etc for 2 hours doing nothing. That doesn't benefit anyone.

Surely it is patently obvious that "working from home" was not offered to the OP... :rotfl: or they would have taken the chance to do 8 hours from home and stayed in the warm and not be facing the challenge of having to make up time for not going in..??

nzmegs

These problems highlight the need for people to think about their respopnsibility to perhaps not work such far distances from their homes. All this driving and travelling to and fro is partially to blame for the extreme weather conditions in the first place. Why not work closer to your home, encourage working from home (if you are a employer) or use more sustainable means of transport. If you weren't all so reliant on cars then you wouldn't feel so lost without them.

Is the prospect of a few more thousand pounds per year really worth the hassle of extra travel time? I find it amazing anyone would work 20 miles from their home. Why choose that job? - or move closer if it is really that important.

One of these days things are going to change. we can't keep clogging up the roads and the air in this way. Driving should be viewed as a privilege not a right. Use it when you have to and try to be more senisble in your choices. No I am not a vegetarian hemp wearing weirdo. I just think things have gotten out of proportion. I just hope people can start to think more clearly about what is important.

jaffacakes82

The thing about 'snow days' is that there are a lot of people who DO take the pis* with it to get a day off work so it gains a reptutation, and the collegues who do make it in tend to assume they're ALL skiving. At my last job, on snow days every Manager or Senior staff would make it in which looked even more suspicous. It took me 75 minutes to walk to work so that's what I did on snow days. But the following day, a lot of those who didn't make it in would say they didn't even bother trying.

Should they get a free day off work? No way! Take it as holiday or make it up.

aj2703

nzmegs wrote: »

These problems highlight the need for people to think about their respopnsibility to perhaps not work such far distances from their homes. All this driving and travelling to and fro is partially to blame for the extreme weather conditions in the first place. Why not work closer to your home, encourage working from home (if you are a employer) or use more sustainable means of transport. If you weren't all so reliant on cars then you wouldn't feel so lost without them.

Is the prospect of a few more thousand pounds per year really worth the hassle of extra travel time? I find it amazing anyone would work 20 miles from their home. Why choose that job? - or move closer if it is really that important.

One of these days things are going to change. we can't keep clogging up the roads and the air in this way. Driving should be viewed as a privilege not a right. Use it when you have to and try to be more senisble in your choices. No I am not a vegetarian hemp wearing weirdo. I just think things have gotten out of proportion. I just hope people can start to think more clearly about what is important.

So by your reckoning i should never work off the Isle of Wight because of the travelling distance to the mainland. That's great i'll ponce off the social for the rest of my life as there is zero work over here....:rolleyes:

euronorris

desperado2 wrote: »

The OP is asking about being asked to make up the time.. - the decision by the worker whether to put in extra effort to attend paid work is secondary to that except where an employer deems an employee to have taken reasonable steps to attend. "sensible" is really far too subjective.. I might agree that bobsleding round the M25 is Extreme, but where it is possible to get to work, the comparison is "do I value a days pay enough to make the effort required" not "I have better things to do with my time.. one of those better things is showing up for work surely... :rolleyes:

An arbtrary point and not really relevant to the OP.. who may live in London and be blessed with Night Buss services as well as Daytime ones, or services that start running at 5.30am as they do here in the grim bit of Lanacshire..

Surely it is patently obvious that "working from home" was not offered to the OP... :rotfl: or they would have taken the chance to do 8 hours from home and stayed in the warm and not be facing the challenge of having to make up time for not going in..??

OK, firstly, I have been commenting generally. Not based on the OP's individual circumstances regarding the travel, as I do not know enough information in that respect (none of us do), ie, where they are, how much it snowed, what options were available etc. I can only speculate.

Most of my posts have been in response to those who believe that it is ALWAYS possible to get to work. This is not the case. And, even if it is, after 2-3 hours, or longer in some cases, much of the working day has been lost already. If I didn't have the option of working from home, I would either take it as holiday or make up the hours.

I do not disagree that you should have to make up the time. However, I do not agree with the attitude that everyone is able to get there at the moment, or that they should even try (when you consider the increased dangers involved).