Ensure your practice has a bad weather policy

The ‘beast from the east’ brought much of the country to a standstill last week with public transport grinding to a halt, school closures and warnings from the police and government to avoid travel in some areas as red alert weather warnings were issued by the Met Office.

In Scotland, transport minister Humza Yousaf stated that it would be unacceptable for employers to dock wages of workers who were advised by the government and police not to travel during the red weather warnings.

MDDUS employment law team have had a flurry of calls from practice managers asking for advice on how to deal with staff no-shows during last week’s disruptions.

MDDUS employment law adviser Janice Sibbald said, “There is no legal obligation to pay staff if they cannot attend work due to the weather conditions. However, the practice may have contractual obligations or have custom and practice arrangements in place from previous years.

“The practice also needs to consider health and safety obligations, as each practice has a duty of care to its employees. Common sense should also be applied. Where there is a Met Office warning to avoid travel, then it is not reasonable to be encouraging employees to come to work.