What would happen where you work if you were "stranded" and late back from a holiday?

[LoyaltyBonus]

I probably should say this is a school, so there's no possibility of being asked to take the extra days as holiday.

The staff member's return flight was delayed by 24 hours due to bad weather. The general unrest at this has also lead to people "realising" that he was off sick for the last three days before we broke up.

I'm only involved on periphery, thankfully, I'm not the one who has to deal with it and I'm not affected by the absence, but there is outrage among his immediate colleagues and I'm curious as to how this would be dealt with in other places. Our absence policy just says approval absence due to extreme weather is at the head teacher's discretion.

Would it be reasonable for the employer to ask for proof of the outward and return flight booking, as his colleagues are suggesting?

I work in a school (Ireland) and If this happened we would have to take one of your Extra Personal Vacation day ( 3 flexi days a year if you do a course during the summer) .
Otherwise it would be an uncertified sick leave day.

Wow what a horrible place to work

I doubt my boss would even realise what day I was meant to be coming back! And if he did he certainly wouldn't be arsed to do anything about it!

I had a colleague, my manager in fact, do this once.

It was a big event on at work that day and supposedly restricted holidays in the weeks leading up to it but he somehow managed to wrangle it with the boss and get the week off. So basically landed me with all his the work leading up to the day.

He went to Ibiza . He was due back in on the Monday with his flight landing at 7pm on the Sunday. I knew he was going to pull something and low and behold he phones on Monday morning and said his flight was delayed and he'd only just got back. I checked the arrivals at the airport cause I knew he was lying, and I was right. Boss did FA when I presented him with this info though.

I'm a casual supply teacher so no-one would care if I was delayed coming back from a holiday! I remember around 9 years ago when there was an ash cloud from a volcano, I think it was in Iceland, and I had to cover for a class teacher who was held up for a week. Iirc there were 3 or 4 people off that week at that school alone. They returned on the Friday and spent most of that afternoon in a meeting with the head and the slt.

In my work (public sector) your just have to take an extra day's annual leave. I guess they might ask for proof, but only if there was ongoing suspicion around that person's attendance. I'd be pretty pissed off if they asked me for proof.

I missed a day when my flight got cancelled (I was due to arrive Sunday morning and be in work on Monday, but landed Monday afternoon instead). Not much I could do about it really. I doubt work were happy, but not much they could do about it either unless they had wanted to charter a private plane to fly me back on the Sunday. They got someone who was off on the Monday to come in and I had to work an extra day instead.

Nothing, my boss wouldn't care. I'd have to take the day off as unpaid or annual leave but my boss wouldn't ask for proof where I was or take any disciplinary measures.

Nowadays you could probably let your manager know if you were delayed at the time.

Even if not, I'd want evidence as I would doubt the account.

One member of staff got stuck in the lake district in floods a few years back. They were stuck for days. Another got stuck in america and was a day late back. Nothing was done. Both issues leading to being stuck were in the news though!

Well I am a teacher and got stuck on holiday in 2010 when the Icelandic volcano grounded all the planes for a week! I had a very reasonable head who shrugged his shoulders and said see you when you get back!

The people who's employers wouldn't care probably don't work in schools or anywhere else with fixed holidays or workplaces that need a cerain number of people actually present each day.

If this was your DCs teacher and it was a deliberate act, would you still carry on with the breezy 'it doesn't matter' comments?

My work would be OK, it can't be helped (if it's a genuine situation and not just an excuse for extra time off) I wouldn't be paid though.

My Dh is a classroom assistant. Awful pay, awful conditions (special needs school). No staff from his school are ever allowed unpaid leave during term term, even for weddings, funerals, dentist etc. They used to be a few years ago. In the situation of your colleague they would have no choice but to authorise unpaid leave, however they would not be happy. In all honestly they probably have phones in sick / delayed flight when it's not true. However do they have the option of taking unpaid leave for holidays etc? If not these type of situations are bound to occur and the issue needs to be addressed much higher up. You can't expect to be paid peanuts and not be allowed any unpaid leave.

when I was doing my second year at uni it was the time of the volcano in Iceland - I was told by our pych tutor that there was an incredible number of student who were claiming extra time for essays because apparently they were all traveling & got stuck - tutors were a bit cynical because at least 20 students claimed this (I wasn't one - hadn't thought that through!)

If every one is getting worked up, sounds like he has form for this, or a bit untrustworthy. Was he phoning trying to handover lesson plans and sounding concerned about cover arrangements, or was it more ? If it happened to me I think it would be taken at face value and nothing requested (shines halo) but am senior, and work so many extra hours etc, but if it happened to someone more junior or a bit dodgy, I suspect evidence would be requested. HR can be quite direct about this stuff but I would probably mention a BS excuse along lines that proof is required by someone else (e.g. ‘management’/La/academy chain) to ensure that they get paid and it’s not taken as unpaid leave etc, act all breezy and wait....

My boss would laugh at me but I’d still take it as AL or TOIL and I’d provide proof, requested or not.

Two years ago I messaged the headmaster to say my flight home had been delayed by 24 hours - not the weather or anything, just an unexplained easyjet cancellation, and so I would have to miss the Monday. He texted back saying he was in a different country but essentially said, "lol me too, see you Tuesday."

I guess they can easily check if a flight is cancelled or delayed, and I wouldn't have minded showing proof if asked.

So, those teachers stuck abroad because of the Icelandic volcano eruption, They returned on the Friday and spent most of that afternoon in a meeting with the head and the slt. Why? Getting a bollocking? That was an unprecedented natural event that made international headlines and how could any of the thousands of travellers affected by it do anything about it at all? It was hugely disruptive for everyone.

Most schools have insurance for staff absence. Not nowadays, they don't. The premiums are crippling, so many schools can't afford it - certainly not for relatively short-term absences.

I do recall seeing on the weekend weather forecasts that there were terrible rainstorms in the Med.

My manager would take a very dim view of having to wait an extra day for the exotic sweets that the holidaying person was bringing back for us all.

If their chair is nice there's a risk that someone might swap it too.

Our company is very relaxed though so we are lucky. We work really bloody hard so there are no rigid rules re hours, or making up lost time. I realise whenever I read work threads on here that I am very lucky.

Feckless teachers. If they were really committed they would have walked/sailed/swam back.

CallmeAngelina

Why? Getting a bollocking? I've no idea. All I know is that I still had to cover for one of those teachers despite him having returned to work 🤷

Well if I tried to say that my flight was delayed, they would know I was lying as it is a well known fact that I won't fly.

I could be delayed in the Lake District though and they would just say ' see you when you get back'

I have wondered about this in the past though - years back we went down to my parents (170 miles away) and dh was ill the day we were supposed to travel back, so we had to stay another day - luckily he was on a weeks annual leave, but he could have been due in the work the next day, I couldn't have driven back because it was a manual car and I only have an auto licence.

Things happen - maybe he was very unfortunate, but it could look very suspicious.

It doesn't sound a very nice place to work. Is there some sort of back-story as to why so many people are up in arms about it and suspecting a faked illness on top of the delayed flight?
How has it impacted others? Have they been asked to cover?

If he's a teacher this could lose his qualification, so many NCTL hearings with teachers banned for life for this. If he is lying, decide if it's worth ruining a career!