Employment
What are your employment rights when working in adverse weather conditions?
Our employment law experts explain what you may be entitled to from your employer when working during adverse weather conditions.
As the winter season arrives, and the temperature outside drops, more extreme weather conditions become more common. Conditions such as extreme storms or heavy snow or icy roads and streets may mean you are unable to travel to work or arrive at work at the expected time. It may also present challenges of childcare or school closures. In these circumstances, it is important to know what your employer can do to help.
Flexibility of work
If you are unable to travel into the office due to extreme weather conditions, your employer is responsible for providing their employees with reasonable flexibility. For example, your employer may allow you to work from home or take a paid or unpaid day of leave. Your employer may also offer flexibility on work start times to account for adverse weather conditions.
However, despite a responsibility for flexibility, there is no legal requirement in the UK for you to be paid unless the business is closed, and it is not possible for you to work from home.
In some cases of extreme weather conditions, some places of work may close. If your employer decides to close the business due to poor weather conditions, they must compensate you for your time at work or pay you for the hours you would have worked if the weather had not been an issue.
Parental employee rights
During extreme weather conditions, some schools may decide to close. If you are a parent, you may not be able to organise alternative childcare, so under these circumstances you may be able to take unpaid leave, sometimes called ‘dependent leave’.
Dependent leave, sometimes referred to as compassionate leave, is time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant. A dependent could be a spouse, partner, child, grandchild, parent, or someone who depends on you for care. Employers may pay you during this time or they may encourage you to use your holidays/annual leave, but they are not legally obligated to pay you for this time off.
Employers cannot sanction or dismiss you for taking this leave. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 employees have a statutory right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with emergencies involving their dependents.
We are here to help
Our employment law team understand the complexities of dealing with workplace claims and the need for empathy during what is usually a challenging time. We are well-equipped to support you through every stage of your employment dispute, from initial discussions to potential escalations.
For any employment issues you may have or may currently be facing, call us today on 0330 041 5869 or contact us online here.
