Partner Article

Bad weather is never good news

Bad weather is never good news for clients, staff or a business. However, whereas you can’t control the weather, you can prepare. Jane Crosby from our employment department explains further:

At law firm Hart Brown proper preparation is key. Even before bad weather is forecast it is a good idea to highlight to your staff the fact that bad weather might be on its way. Ask them to take sensible steps to ensure any client emergencies are dealt with in anticipation of them not being able to make it into the office. This might include them taking work home so they can deal with it from there or ensuring that someone else who they know will be in (they might live in walking distance of the office) is briefed on what to do.

Hart Brown ensures that everyone has relevant telephone numbers (colleagues, line managers, senior staff) so they know who to call should they need to do so.

Any business should look at the essential functions that are necessary to enable the business to function. In Hart Brown’s case, a key requirement is being able to transfer monies so that house purchases can complete on time. Also, ensuring phones are answered is critical, so relying on a skeleton staff who can make it in to deal with essentials. Setting up a member of staff to do some key functions from home can solve some of these problems. Companies that have multi-offices can organise someone who might be able to work in a different office (perhaps more local to them and easier to get to) and ensure the facilities are in place to enable them to work there.

As an employer, businesses must be conscious of health and safety obligations, and should not encourage staff to take unreasonable risks in order to get into work. Equally, bad weather is not a chance for a day off for those who don’t want to make the effort. Businesses should have a clear adverse weather policy in place, making it clear whether staff will be paid if they do not attend work. In the absence of a clear policy employees could ask for payment provided they have made reasonable efforts to attend work. Check that offices are kept warm - otherwise you may have to close them.

Ultimately it is about co-operation. There will be those who simply can’t make it to work because of where they live and it would be unsafe for them to try, those who could if they tried and those who can because they live nearby. Clear communication and a proper adverse weather policy setting out everyone’s obligations and good planning should enable every business to cope. Hart Brown’s commercial employment team can ensure a business’s employment policies are robust and cover eventualities such as bad weather.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hart Brown .