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Flooding and heavy snow are currently causing significant disruptions to road and rail travel in various parts of the country. What is the legal position if an employee is unable to get to the workplace, or is late, due to disruptions to road or rail travel?

As a general rule, it’s an employee’s responsibility to turn up for work and to do so on time. However, where travel disruption caused by adverse weather means that they are having commuting difficulties, you need to be more flexible. You have a statutory duty to ensure the health and safety of your employees, so you should not demand they travel to work when it is not safe to do so and may put them at high risk, e.g. the Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for your area following heavy snow and has advised people to avoid travelling unless absolutely essential.

Assuming travel is sufficiently safe but there are road or rail travel disruptions, employees should be advised to allow extra time for their journey and/or make alternative travel arrangements if possible. Where travel disruption has genuinely resulted in an employee’s absence from the workplace or their lateness, your options here include:

  • requesting them to make up the lost time at a later date (if they are late)
  • permitting them to take their absence as part of their paid annual leave entitlement
  • providing that their absence will be unpaid – if they do not attend work, generally you do not have to pay them, unless they have a contractual right to pay in such circumstances
  • providing that they will be paid their normal pay as if they had attended work on the day of absence – but be aware this may cause resentment amongst staff who have struggled to get to work
  • permitting them to work from home or otherwise remotely, if this is viable.

Always ensure you act fairly and consistently.

If an employee’s child’s school or nursery has unexpectedly closed due to the adverse weather, they have a statutory right to take reasonable unpaid time off for dependants.

If you suspect an employee’s absence or lateness is unjustified, e.g. they are using travel disruption as an excuse to avoid attending work in circumstances where travel is sufficiently safe, you may wish to consider disciplinary action. You will first need to properly investigate the matter and consider the employee’s individual circumstances.