Home > Articles/Publications

British Barbers

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED February 2024

Adverse Weather

The recent snow and ice caused the normal disruption and badly affected already struggling businesses. However staff are also affected by the weather especially if they are dependent on roads or public travel to get into work. Here are a range of questions received on this subject.

Question 1

Two of my staff failed to get into work because of the snow. The rest of the team got in and we remained open although we had a number of cancellations .How can I deal with this situation?

Some employers have a specific written policy to cover such situations. My clients use my time off policy it covers medical appointments. Jury service, special leave etc.You can contact me at davidwrightps@gmail.com.

However I think there are a range of options available to you. You could simply regard it as absence and deduct a day's pay. Some Salons gave staff the option of losing a day's pay or using holiday. Another option would be to pay the staff on the basis that they would catch up the hours at an agreed later date or swap their day off. Finally there is of course the option of deciding that the circumstances were beyond the employee's control (if you are happy the circumstances of these two differed from their colleagues)and pay them as normal.

Question 2

An employee who lives half a mile away failed to get through the snow to work but all his colleagues did so. I didn’t pay him for the day and he has now raised a grievance saying it wasn’t his fault?

I would refer you to the answer above. Technically the employee could argue that this as an unlawful deduction from his salary as he didn’t give his approval. In theory he could even take his case to Employment Tribunal. But this seems unlikely. However in the first instance you must hear the grievance and explain your position. He would not expect to be paid if he was unwell which would equally not be his fault. I think the option of offering the opportunity to use a day's leave might be helpful.

Question 3

As the snow cleared business returned to normal but several staff were then unable to come into work as the schools remained closed and they couldn’t arrange emergency child care.

In reality the staff have little option but to remain off. These circumstances would normally be covered by your time off policy. The staff are covered by the legislation allowing staff time off for emergency situations.But this isn’t paid. The legislation is clear that any time off to manage the emergency can be unpaid but you might offer the options outlined in Question 1.

Question 4

I fully accepted that staff couldn’t get into work on the first day of the bad weather, however public transport was running fairly normally on day 2 and one employee didn’t arrive or even phone in. I want to take disciplinary action is this reasonable?

This is a possibility but you would need to be clear regarding the circumstances. The employee's home location or age might have made their circumstances very different. It was clear that weather and snow clearing varied in areas only a few miles apart. Your Contract or Salon rules should cover the circumstances regarding staffs responsibilities for contacting the Salon when they are unable to attend work. The employees failure to adhere to these rules are potentially more likely to be the basis of a disciplinary sanction. In the first instance you need to carry out an investigative interview with the employee before deciding if you feel a formal or informal sanction is required.

Articles/Publications