what do you do if you cannot get into work due to the weather?

[Marshtit]

obviously you cannot work from home
do you make up time
do you come in early
do you take leave

i offered to work from home in the evening but was told No.
my newish micromanager, micromanages and is quite tough

That still isn't an employers problem to solve though.

If you can work from home why the hell shouldn’t you? If you are risking yourself to get in surely that is the best option. Honestly I despair with the EMPLOYER culture these days.

There are a huge number of jobs which can't be done remotely from home. Are we to expect the entire country to grind to a halt due to an inch and a half of snow and a temperature of a whole -2 degrees?

How would people cope if we had another winter like 1947 or 1962/63?

My boss said the work car park was a little icy today. So I should work from home tomorrow.

im so glad (by luck) I moved from a customer facing/ sales roll a few years ago.

I used to take annual leave. Always kept a few days in reserve.

Why don’t you ask your manager what they suggest bearing in mind their duty of care to you ?
ACAS advise :
Employers have a 'duty of care' for the health and safety of all staff. This means they should not encourage staff to travel when it's not safe. For example, where heavy snow or ice means people are told not to travel by car or public transport except for emergencies.
The employer could allow staff to:
*come in later that day if the disruption is expected to stop – for example if weather is due to improve

*work flexible hours so they can make up any lost working time

• work from home

*temporarily adjust a hybrid working agreement – for example swapping which days someone works from home

*swap shifts with those who can get in more easily

*rearrange duties temporarily to those that can still be carried out

All depends on what your company policies are.

For my job I can wfh if I have my laptop with me (been bringing it home just in case as I live semi rurally) however if I didn't and I couldn't get to work then I would have to take as annual leave or unpaid.

NHS hospital years back when bad snow (think 2007) managers were going out in 4 x 4s to collect essential personnel who were close enough, I wasn't, tried to get public transport but failed. Me and others like me were told we had to use annual leave or be unpaid........despite spending hours trying to get there😡

This does not surprise me, academy trusts are the worst.

My choices are annual leave/toil if I had any but havent actually been able to get to work in 2026 yet/unpaid/wfh or do training courses.

I'm doing a mix and am documenting everything. Got the distinct feeling management don't care what I do or don't do though.

It's frustrating by this point. I could physically get there tomorrow (unless we have a ton of snow overnight again) but the building is shut...

I’m lucky in that I’ve always been able to WFH if I haven’t been able to get to the office (only twice in my working life, both of which were because the gritters hadn’t been out and it simply wasn’t safe to drive - I don’t live somewhere that proper winter tyres would normally be required), but otherwise I’d expect to either have to take annual leave or make up the hours.

So you could get to work then.

Maybe you couldn't help being late today. But now you know you're likely to need public transport tomorrow and how long it takes you should leave home earlier, unless childcare doesn't allow for that.

I wouldn't expect to make up the time I was late as an unavoidable one-off due to weather, but if it was something more personal like car breakdown then I would expect to make up the time. Or for those hours to be unpaid if you're paid hourly.

If I literally couldn't get to work at all by any means, even if it meant I was late, I'd either ask for the day as AL if I had any left and couldn't afford to lose money or I'd expect it to be unpaid leave. Most companies won't pay you for taking a snow day.

I’m in Aberdeenshire, currently about four feet of snow on my patch. The B road I’m on is completely blocked and no space left on the verges to continue ploughing it. I’m on paid leave, for the rest of the week at least if the weather forecast is anything to go by.

I’m not looking forward to running out of milk but I’m grateful to be safe and warm.

Work in NHS and was told previously we had to spend our working day trying to get to work, or take A/l or unpaid.

I took a/l as advice was not to drive, there was no easy public transport, and it was about a 5 Mike walk in freezing conditions. It was an outpatient role, and no surprise, all my patients cancelled.

Now I generally wfh anyway luckily.

i can’t do my job remotely, I’d be expected to get myself to the nearest “office” which is over an hours walk away on bloody awful hilly roads with no direct public transport. I can’t even do my job from there but I’d be collected and driven in to my usual place of work.
thankfully I’ve always made it in even during the beast from the east when I worked further away it took me 2 hours to walk into work but I had no other option. Had to get up at 4am to start at 7 for a 12 hour shift then had to walk home too. Thankfully I only had to do that for 2 days and I was exhausted

The country doesn't grind to a halt if the people who can WFH do so in snowy weather. Fewer people on the roads makes the commute safer for those who have to go in.

i normally drive
to go by public transport took me an hour and a half but 2 hours and 3/4 to get home,
interesting to hear other's work positions.

oh and my work base changed so i didnt choose this location

I’ve always managed to get to work but colleagues have had to either make up the time, take it as leave or have it unpaid.

I feel you must do the same/similar job to me! Fed up to the back teeth of micromanaging employers trying to insist staff go in, resulting in emergency services workers risking their own lives to sort out the ensuing problems

Bloomin eck ! What sort of work do you do? Check into an hotel at your own expense!

the worst thing is if it is ok in the morning but then comes down later in the day and yet most work places don't give any consideration for this.

Surely it’s all about pre-planning? This happens every winter, it’s nothing new! Where are your grit boxes? Are they full? Make sure your drive / road is gritted, drive to the conditions - slow down, use low gears, make sure you have a blanket and food/drink with you. It’s less than 5cm of snow! It’s manageable to carry on as usual in with adequate preparation and a bit of extra care! Get some snow boots and a decent coat sorted too, it’ll happen again! How do people think countries like Canada keep going?

Maybe the OP lives in Yorkshire or Scotland or somewhere where there’s been more than 5cm of snow? My mil lives in Yorkshire and couldn’t get out of her farm for the last two days. It’s all very well saying drive to the conditions but she lives halfway up a big hill and the small road to the main road is very steep….a car simply won’t get enough traction to get up the hill when it’s snowy.

its all very well saying Canada manages, it does my Dd lives there. It’s been snowing loads and something like -20. But the roads are clear. If you live out in the sticks even the roads will be clear to some extent and people also have winter tyres.

dh has got to work for the last few days but said the roads he has to take haven’t been gritted. So if your route is all on A roads you’re ok as they have been but the minute you need to come off an A road it’s icy and snowy.

I'm a nurse and when I worked in a hospital, some staff would be on standby to go out in 4x4 vehicles to collect staff too

It was quite funny...the amount of people who had rang saying they couldn't get in and then disappointed when told, its ok, you will be collected and dropped home again. Many were hoping for a day off at home! It was inpatients so we needed so many staff before the previous shift could go home

Now, I'm still NHS and can't work from home, we have to reasonably try to get in and if not annual or unpaid leave or make hours up