Hurricane Ophelia – Employer Rights

*this article should not be taken as legal advice

While there is no obligation on employers to pay staff who miss work due to extreme weather, most organisations will, and should, exercise common sense.
 

 
Employees have no obvious ‘right’ to be paid if they don’t travel to work but individual contracts need to be considered to fully understand exactly where you stand. Even extreme weather conditions do not mean there is a legal obligation to pay people who do not show up for work. So irrespective of if you pay someone a salary or an hourly rate, you are in the same position.

 
That said most organisations will recognise when employees need to be accommodated. The effect of not paying people who have legitimate reason not to travel (like a hurricane!) could be hugely damaging to employee motivation and your employer brand.

 
Employees who need to stay at home to mind children are in the same position as anyone else who does not show up for work – it is at the employers discretion to pay or not.

 
In terms of employers disciplining people for not turning up, this would be looked up in a case by case manner, however if it was to ultimately turn into some sort of legal proceeding the person concerned would be able to cite the Met Eireann warnings on travelling etc. If the individual can show legitmate concern for their safety, the company would clearly be on the back foot if this formed part of a dismissal for example. Obviously the company would have needed to have followed a disciplinary process.

 
Another key point is that just because a person cannot get in at a certain time does not mean they should take the full day off. They should be available for work once the storm has cleared and it is safe to get to work.

 
While most of the rights are on the employer’s side for these situations, hopefully common sense will prevail for most companies will take the advice to minimise employee movement.