What level of your expectation has your workplace got for turning up in snow

DUNDEEBOY · 01/12/10 - 21:54

Ours you were "expected" to make an effort despite all public transport being off.

I took about 75 mins to get there in about two foot of snowand a few were there, this then caused the knock on effect that if some got there why didnt everyone, calls were made etc.

Busses were put off again and you were allowed to leave earlier, however you may have to work the time back:eek:

Some departments can work from home, however ours cant:(

Tolstoy · 01/12/10 - 22:02

I don't quite get the obsession with some employers demanding that employees move heaven and earth to try to make it in. People who live close by would be expected to arrive okay whilst others may have serious problems. My last boss was amenable to people phoning in and taking a holiday in these circumstances. Reasonable employers would do likewise.

PinSarla · 01/12/10 - 22:03

Some employers think people have teleporters. 2 feet of snow and no public transport? If you live any decent distance away and your car just won't move for love nor money WTF are you supposed to do :eek: of course I'm talking about places like where I am where the snow is really bad

In saying that my work is closed so there are no expectations

Shadow27 · 01/12/10 - 22:04

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1399731

It's not the employers fault and there are plenty of good weather days to make up the hours but I wonder if it's a idle threat to get those who can't get to work to turn up. I bet more bodies will show up tomorrow!

Is there a way that your dept can work from home too then I'd suggest that you ask why they can't implement it. But then again my husband wasn't able to in his job as a print machine minder from home but he always knew that when he took the job so he made sure he got to work (but we lived near to his job). 75 mins and no transport is questionable mind you, if public transport gives up then you could argue it wasn't safe to travel.

[Deleted User] · 01/12/10 - 22:06

We're given the option to work the shift we missed at a later date or we don't get paid.

rehab_101 · 01/12/10 - 22:11

My boss has crazy expectations, partly due to the fact my place is lone working. Right now it appears i will be walking 5ish miles in an expected 6-10 inches of snow.....

[Deleted User] · 01/12/10 - 22:16

I'm very glad there isn't any snow where I live and either way, it wouldn't make a difference because I work part-time from home.

[Deleted User] · 01/12/10 - 22:17

Does anyone know how all this relates to health and safety and how much your employer has an obligation to help, ie taxi fares or providing accomodation if you can't get home again.

[Deleted User] · 01/12/10 - 22:18

Mine says you should make it in if you can.
Although we closed at 12.15pm due to the worsening weather, and subsequent decreasing public transport!

skazza · 01/12/10 - 22:19

It's get in whatever and however you can unless you get a call that the school's closed. Which has happened once before, and applies tomorrow, in the last ten years.

shelleyj89 · 01/12/10 - 22:20

Our handbook says we should "try our best" but they've not seemed fussed about people not making it. I think because so many near me have struggled, they're just resigned to the fact that there won't be many staff. I don't know why we still open. Yesterday we had the poilce in saying the conditions outside were too dangerous, I wasn't in today but when I rang at 10am, they were thinking of shutting early again.

Achtung! · 01/12/10 - 22:22

My boss lives at the top of an incredibly steep hill, and won't risk driving his Merc down it if it snows. As he sets the example, he is usually amenable to the similar plights of his workers.

Miss C. DeVille · 01/12/10 - 22:28

Just looked at the news and they're saying some people are getting paid and some aren't - guess which companies are not paying - mostly shops who's workers probably don't earn a lot in the first place and usually have to rely on public transport which isn't running.
I feel really sorry for Tesco and M&S workers etc. especially as their workers probably have kids whose schools are closed so are doubly stuffed.

Gurgles · 01/12/10 - 22:29

We're expected to make all reasonable attempts to get in, however if transport is severely disrupted and we can't we're not penalised (and we get paid as normal). HR will check whether our local areas are bad enough to warrant an absence though (and rightly so).

My workplace shut at 11.30 today and is shut tomorrow (I work at a college in Leeds).

[Deleted User] · 01/12/10 - 22:29

If you worked for a company, who insisted that you get to work, and you are forced to walk, say five or ten miles in a blizzard but die of exposure, how successful do you think your family would be in suing your boss?

mark_b · 01/12/10 - 22:33

I live just 1 mile from the warehouse so it's easy to walk or cycle in although then I have to drive anything up to 1 hour to get to the sites I'm doing that day (servicing machines in pubs).

My boss expects me to make it in and at least try do as much as I can in the day although I usually manage to do nearly all of it.

Not too much snow here but there can be where I travel to.

Shadow27 · 01/12/10 - 22:40

If you had the proper clothing - my cousin who still lives in Newcastle has insulated coat and thermal winter gear and has walked to work each day so far 3 miles ish I think - would you die from exposure? Bit worried about him now though he says it's okay when he gets going... but that's six miles each day.

Amica · 01/12/10 - 22:48

I think if public transport is off and it would take more than an hour to walk then I would not try. I think that's reasonable - but I am sure some people have unreasonable bosses. I would imagine that the economic climate makes it more difficult to say no to them.

Sensual Lettuce · 01/12/10 - 22:49

I went in today. My work is only a five minute drive away, so I have no excuse!

[Deleted User] · 01/12/10 - 22:51

Shadow27 wrote: »

If you had the proper clothing - my cousin who still lives in Newcastle has insulated coat and thermal winter gear and has walked to work each day so far 3 miles ish I think - would you die from exposure? Bit worried about him now though he says it's okay when he gets going... but that's six miles each day.

I don't think 3 miles is much if he is well wrapped against the cold, so I wouldn't worry.

But our local news has reports of workers walking 10, 15 and even 20 miles to get to work which seems a bit extreme.

newda898 · 01/12/10 - 22:54

If I was a boss in this situation, instead of docking pay/holiday for those who couldn't make it in, I'd just give those that did a small bonus of sorts, maybe fifty quid or so.

OLD HIPPY GUY · 01/12/10 - 22:55

I am lucky enough to be self employed so I only have to struggle out to my shed in the yard, and I can let myself off for not wanting to freeze my bits off,
But, in the past when working in various factories, we were never allowed to use the weather as an excuse for not coming in, and as for being paid if you couldn't make it in!!, Forget it,
I remember one bad blizzard a few years back, I TRIED to get in, the busses were off, I lived 15 miles from the factory I worked in, and I tried my best to get there on my motorbike!!!
After 2 hours of trying and constantly fighting my way through snowdrifts and abandoned vehicle's I was frozen to the bone and soaking wet, I gave up and went home,
My boss, far from thanking me for at least trying to get in, gave me a verbal warning for taking 'time off' without permission, Not unusual for factory bosses in my experience,
and it seems office workers feel hard done by if they fail to get in and don't get paid!!,

tania4steve · 01/12/10 - 23:01

captainkremmen wrote: »

I don't think 3 miles is much if he is well wrapped against the cold, so I wouldn't worry.

But our local news has reports of workers walking 10, 15 and even 20 miles to get to work which seems a bit extreme.

Snow & cold - I'll wrap up warm & it's fine

Icy pavements - I won't risk life & limb, that won't help my family or the people I work for all year round

OLD HIPPY GUY · 01/12/10 - 23:04

I have also known people to be sacked for leaving the factory early after hearing on the local radio that the busses were going to be taken off in the next hour or so, and these people lived miles away and would have had no way of getting home,
I have heard that there are some decent bosses out there, but in my 42 years of working in factories I find that they are very few and far between,

RussellIan · 01/12/10 - 23:07

Our council's policy requires all reasonable effort to be made to get in or at least to report to the nearest council office, and if not possible then flexi or leave has to be taken.

Vodka_Drinka · 01/12/10 - 23:09

Earlier in the year when we had the really bad snow my cousin was unable to get to work and her employers were really off with her and refused to pay her. This was even though she was snowed in, the buses were off and if she were to walk it would take her well over an hour in normal conditions never mind in the snow.

Sorry but there's no way I'd risk my life to get to work.

Hey there!

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What level of your expectation has your workplace got for turning up in snow

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