Employment lawyers have issued advice for parents and workers taking time off as Storm Eunice hits Dorset.
The comments come from regional law firm Ellis Jones Solicitors as many schools shut and as people are warned to stay at home.
Kate Brooks, Partner and Head of Employment at Ellis Jones, set out the position for parents and carers who can’t go in to work because of school closures.
She said: “A parent or primary career is entitled to unpaid time off to arrange care for their child.
“If an employer fails to allow this, a tribunal claim for discrimination may follow, so employers should agree to these requests. However, the employee is only entitled to ‘reasonable’ time off.”
More widely, employers are urged to consult contracts and employment policy documents when deciding whether to pay staff who can’t make it into work.
Kate said: “The onus is on the employee to be ready and willing to work.
“Even if the reason for absence is that the employee physically could not make it to work because of the weather, he or she is not entitled to be paid.
“However, there can be exceptions. Employers should make sure that they consult their employees’ contracts and employment policy documents before deciding not to pay their employees.
“If these documents state that employees will be paid in these circumstances, then they should be.”
Kate added: “It is somewhat different if the employer closes the business because of bad weather. Usually the employees should be paid in these circumstances.
“The ideal is that employees are able to work from home and therefore paid as normal and business not disrupted.”
An alternative is for employer to agree with their employee that paid holiday entitlement can be used. Normally, however, an employee cannot be forced to take the time as holiday.
Ellis Jones, with 21 Partners and more than 160 staff, has five offices across the south coast in Bournemouth, Canford Cliffs (Poole), Ringwood, Swanage and Wimborne as well as London.
ENDS