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Bad weather blues

Although it may feel like we have not really had a summer this year, winter is fast approaching and it would be wise to take some time to consider what steps to take if your employees are unable to get into work due to bad weather conditions, a disruption to public transport or other unexpected situation.

If you do not already have a policy in place to deal with such an event, a specialist HR outsourcing company can offer a practical and common sense approach to dealing with these and other emergency incidents that could prevent your business from continuing its normal operations, e.g. floods, fire or serious computer malfunction.

In addition to the question of whether you should reasonably be expected to pay employees who fail to turn up for work, be advised that in circumstances where it would be dangerous to do so, employees should not be expected to attend work and you should have due regard for their health, safety and well being at all times. 

Whilst it is accepted that not all businesses can adopt flexible working patterns, advances in modern technology mean that for an increasing number of small and medium businesses, a combination of technology, robust policies and common sense can minimise any adverse impact on the business.  Examples include staff logging-in and working from home or carrying out different roles in the workplace, if required.

The aim of such contingency planning is to enable your business to recover from any serious disruption in the minimum amount of time and at the lowest cost.  This requires careful preparation and planning and an HR consultant is well placed to deliver this.   

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