What does your company do if you can't get into work because of snow??

[minko]

I can't work from home so if I can't get in they make me take it as holiday. Am dreading not being able to get in this week as I have no cover if the schools are shut and work is 10 miles away through snowy country lanes!

It's quite a standard approach for an employee to be required to use leave. Some employers will allow you to make up the time in lieu, or allow you to work from home. It is a rare employer who will 'gift' you the day off. Sorry.

we say that it's an employees choice to live where they do, some of us live within walking distance of work so managed easily to get in last year. If you can't get in you owe work a day. Interestingly some people made it in from 10-15 miles away whereas some people 3 miles away didn't last year.....

Dh has to take it as holiday, and always reserves 2 days for this as his work is a long drive from where we live.

I work for the nhs & they expect you to offer yourselves to your nearest facility if you cant get into your normal place of work.

They are expected to make up the hours missed, in agreement with their line manager. If they cannot be made up in an acceptable timeframe, it can be taken off leave allowance. In practice, that hardly ever happens.

When we can't get in the boss comes and gets us in the tractor, bugger the fact the customers can't get in he makes sure we are there and freezeing our arses off

I'm fortunate enough to be able to work from home, as are my staff, but when I haven't previously I've been expected to take a leave.

It isn't always fair to say though that just because someone can make it in from 10 or more miles away that the person who is 3 miles away should be able to. I live about 4 miles away from work but my buses start their route over 15 miles away and go through some hilly housing estates with fairly minor roads so they are usually cancelled or diverted is the snow or ice is bad. My colleague who lives 40 miles away on a major train route rarely has a problem.

I would be seriously pissed off if my boss couldn't tell the difference, but fortunately he is in the same position as me. And there's no way I'm walking 8 miles a day through snow and ice to do something that I can do just as well from my living room. And I wouldn't expect my staff to either.

We're expected to walk up to two hours each way, or work from home if that's possible. If you can't do either of those, the day is given to us. I think that's quite rare though.

I used to do field sales and if any of us were snowed in we would do paperwork from home.

My boss did piss me off one year though when he insisted I take a photo of the snow surrounding my work van to prove I couldn't get out.... he was based in london and I was in the North, I was not impressed!

I've always had to take it as leave or unpaid if no leave left.

DH can work from home if needed.

Unpaid leave. We also cant take 'carers' leave if the schools are shut especially as we have had warning that we will have snow. We are expected to make child alternative child care arrangements if we have been pre warned of bad weather.

I am so lucky, my boss knows i am always doing the odd half hour extra here and there so if i can't come in due to school closure he just lets me have the day off

I can either work another day or take it as holiday or unpaid

if none of the keyholders can get in then the staff will get it paid if they can prove they got to work so they have to take a photo of themselves standing outside the shop

I've only ever known that once and that was last year

God, the hidden perils of working full time! I can't work from home, I don't have enough hours in the day to make up the time later and I only get 20 days leave. And unpaid leave has been refused... My emergency childcare is my parents, but they can't get here if it snows.

my colleague's (retired)husband has a 4x4 and drove around the area picking up our workforce last year. Since we area GP practice it's pretty important we stay open (if we didn't we would be closed down by the PCT so all staff know that absolutely have to be there)

The coastguard comes to get us in huge 4x4's

minko - how can they refuse unpaid leave if you can't get in? That's ridiculous. I'm local government and we're expected to take leave (unless the chief executive can't get in in which case we may get a snow day - never known that in 12 years!)

Teacher - we have been told that as long as the school is open we should be there . In extreme icy conditions because of the location of the school the police have insisted that we close. But if the school is open we should be there or expect to lose a days pay and get a bollocking when we get in. If we live a long way from the school that is our choice.

Bear in mind that if an employer makes you come in when you have already told them that you do not feel it is safe then they put themselves at risk of consdiderable litigation (criminal rather than civil) if you do have an accident on the way to work for not ensuring a safe working environment. Normally this wouldn't apply to a commute as they are not predictable and there are so many other variables, i.e. responsibility can only begin when you cross the threshold, but I believe if you have stated it's not safe and your employer insists then they are on dodgy ground.
Minko you are entitled to unpaid emergency leave as a parent - cannot remember the exact amount but you are allowed (I think) 20 days' unpaid before your children turn 5. Parental leave such as this is a statutory right which you must demand.

consdiderable! There's a word - meant considerable of course.

TCOB - I was told to tell them to come in, mainly think like someone else said those further away managed as did I, one girl did call back to say she had skidded on some ice and bumped her dads car.

Always made me wondered if they thought I'd slept at work in order for them to call in to say they can't get there.

But Loves as I said in my post it's often about how you get in and not from how far. If you're on a rail route you probably won't have much difficulty but if you rely on buses, like me, then you might well find them cancelled. And I don't think expecting your staff to walk 4 miles each way anywhere reasonable. I say that as a manager btw.

If you want to risk driving from where you live then fair enough but you cannot expect that your staff will want to take the same risks as you. Your manager should not be asking you to put pressure on people to do so. Particularly in weather like this when people are being warned not to make unnecessary journeys.

Am going to have to campaign for an unpaid emergency leave day/days. My youngest is just over 5 though. It is a struggle trying to cover holidays, illness, snow days etc on 20 days hols... aargh!

Distance has absolutely nothing to do with it, as any sane person knows. Someone may live 15 miles away down A roads. Someone else may be 3 miles away but live a mile up an unclassified road that is not treated. Do managers think that person should walk to work, perhaps down a dangerous road with no pavement? Really? I do think employers have a false sense of their own importance at these times.

Minko - what on earth does your employer do if you are taken ill? Are you supposed to have two weeks advance notice of a sickness bug? Or perhaps they just expect you to go in and spread it around everyone else?

I'm sorry, but these naval gazing attitudes from employers really really wind me up!

I'm allowed to be ill, I was referring to leave for kids' illnesses. I only started working full time recently but it has made me realise that I really need a part time job to allow for all this 'stuff'. At the current rate we won't get a family holiday in the summer as I won't have any leave left!

Thank goodness I can work from home if need be.

Also, as I only work four days a week I can "borrow" my day off, which is handy if the DCs are ill.