WORKING during the winter months can be tough – especially when temperatures fall below freezing.
Met Eireann today issued a 12-hour Status Orange warning for “significant snowfall accumulations” in three counties tomorrow and have placed every other county under a Status Yellow alert.
The forecaster has warned of “very difficult travelling conditions” including poor visibility, travel disruption and flooding in Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, Cork and Waterford tomorrow.
Public transport in those counties, particularly air, rail and bus, will also likely face disruptions due to the severe weather.
Every other county in Ireland has been warned of hazardous travelling conditions, poor visibility and travel disruption as Ireland experiences its first taste of winter and temperatures dropped to a freezing -4C early this morning.
And many have been left wondering what their employment rights are, whether they can work from home due to the “hazardous” travelling conditions and if they get paid for a day off due to snow.
Plenty of people will also be wondering how cold it needs to be before you could be sent home from work.
Rules are different for office workers and manual workers, and experts have urged employers to remember their duty of care to employees.
Damien McCarthy, Managing Director at HR Buddy, has compiled all the information Irish workers need to know when working through freezing weather or snow.
He said: “Severe weather events can impact on an employee’s ability to report for work and an employer’s ability to operate his or her business and to be able to provide work.
“The employment contract may specify when an employee cannot attend work because of extreme weather events.
“The safety of employees should be paramount for employers.
“An employer’s statutory duty to provide a safe place of work includes ensuring that employees are not required to undertake a hazardous journey to work.
“If public transport is not operating due to extreme weather conditions employers are exposed to the risk of claims by employees who suffer accidents on their journey to work.”
HEALTH AND SAFETY
If the decision to remain open during an extreme weather event is made, employee safety will need to be prioritised.
The risk of personal injury claims increases significantly during extreme weather events.
A risk assessment should be carried out and appropriate measures such as gritting walkways and clearing snow will need to be undertaken.
HR Buddy advised: “As extreme weather events occur relatively infrequently in Ireland developing an Extreme Weather Policy tends to be at the lower end of an organisation’s list of priorities.
“It is nevertheless good practice to develop such a policy document which should clarify the measures the organisation will take during extreme weather events to include issues of pay, public transport closures, remote work and attendance. Once the policy is developed it should be clearly communicated to all employees.”
IS IT ‘TOO COLD’ TO WORK?
Today, other than for sedentary and office workers, there is no minimum temperature specified by legislation and no specified point at which the workplace becomes “too cold” by law to work in.
For all manual workers, the temperature needs to be “appropriate for human beings, having regard to the working methods being used and the physical demands placed on them”.
And employers have a duty of care to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all employees, and as such, they should consider the workers’ comfort.
The Safety, Health, and Welfare at Work Regulations 2007 specify 17.5C as the minimum temperature for sedentary office work.
In other sedentary work that does not involve serious physical effort, a minimum temperature of 16C to be achieved and maintained after the first hour’s work.
CAN I WORK FROM HOME ON SNOW DAY?
Where an employee has the capacity to carry out their work from home for the duration of the disruption, this could be considered and if appropriate can be agreed with his or her line manager.
However, this solution is not feasible for a number of roles where the employee’s presence is required.
It may also put pressure on the Organisation’s IT infrastructure as demand increases.
However, if someone is working from home, employers could provide financial assistance in order to keep their workspace heated.
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
Employers may have included policies and procedures in their contracts of employment to cover severe weather events.
These may include:
- The taking of annual leave for the days absent to avoid employee loss of earnings
- Agreement to work back the hours / days lost
- Alternative opening days or trading hours on a day where the business is normally closed
- Working from home where feasible and practical
- Working from an alternative location where feasible and practical
- Or other beneficial arrangements
In general, there is no statutory entitlement for an employee to be paid if they cannot attend work because of extreme weather.
Any more beneficial arrangement is a matter for agreement between the employer and the employee.
HR Buddy said: “Employers are encouraged to take a long-term view of the working relationship, recognising that demonstrating concern for the welfare of employees and treating employees fairly translates into a better working environment to the benefit of both the staff and the employer.”
WHAT IF I’M LATE OR HAVE TO LEAVE EARLY?
Some flexibility may be provided to employees who arrive late at work or have to leave early due to the conditions.
And with Met Eireann warning of disruptions to public transport for many on Thursday, many people look likely to be late for work tomorrow.
Employers need to consider paid leave where the employees will work up the time missed at a later date, preferably within one month of the occurrence.
This is usually more feasible in organisations that already operate a flexi-time system.
Alternatively, the option of unpaid leave or annual leave – broken into hours – may be considered.
Employers may allow employees to take annual leave for the day or days covered by the event in which case, they would be paid.
WHAT IF MY ROSTER IS CHANGED LAST-MINUTE?
Normally, employees are entitled to notice of at least 24 hours of a roster change.
However, this does not apply in exceptional circumstances as with extreme weather events.
WHAT IF SCHOOLS & CRECHES CLOSE?
In the case of schools or creches closing, an emergency leave situation may result for some staff.
This does not fall under the legal definition of force majeure leave.
Where the Employee is unable to make alternative arrangements, annual leave or unpaid leave could be considered on a case-by-case basis.
WHAT IF PREMISES HAS TO CLOSE?
An employer may be forced to close the premises for a few days or weeks due to an emergency such as a flood.
In these circumstances the employer may put employees on a period of ‘layoff’.
An employer may lay off employees when there is no work available for a temporary period with that employer.
If employees are laid-off then the employer is not obliged to pay employees.
Laid-off employees may be entitled to Jobseekers Benefit or Jobseekers Allowance from the Department of Social Protection for the days they are not working.
