Severe Weather Travel Policy?

Haynes

What are your employer's attitude, formal and informal, to travelling in severe weather?

A company I used to work for did not insist employees travel in treacherous ice/snow conditions if they lived more than 10 miles away; and that would have been drawn up with, almost exclusively, 4 wheeled transport in mind. Is that completely unheard of these days?

GrantyBoy

when the weather is really cack we take our laptops home and work from there. If you can get in great but if the weather is too bad then don't risk it.
I'm up in N.E. Scotland so the country bumpkins can get hit pretty hard with snow drifts blocking the road. Plus our council is useless at clearing the roads during the first few days of a heavy snow fall.

rich r

If you've got your laptop at home and don't need to come in...don't !

graeme_s-2

We have an official Severe Weather Policy which can be brought into affect University-wide, which basically gives managers permission to allow staff to leave early, or stay at home depending on their individual circumstances. Generally if the weather's really bad my line manager is happy for me to work from home. I think I only did this once or twice last winter when we'd had a bit of snow which had then frozen solid.

I figure I made up for it by arriving on time during the flooding when some colleagues were up to 4 hours late, or gave up after a couple of hours and went home.

nicklouse

Severe weather is expected here. And you are expected at work whatever. (OK a foot of Snow might be enough to stop you but...

Belv

We have an attendance policy - do it if you to be paid.

This applies to severe weather, illness, bereavement (unless of an IMMEDIATE family member)...

graeme_s-2

Belv wrote:

We have an attendance policy - do it if you to be paid.

This applies to severe weather, illness, bereavement (unless of an IMMEDIATE family member)...

You don't get sick pay!? :shock:

spen666

Haynes wrote:

What are your employer's attitude, formal and informal, to travelling in severe weather?

A company I used to work for did not insist employees travel in treacherous ice/snow conditions if they lived more than 10 miles away; and that would have been drawn up with, almost exclusively, 4 wheeled transport in mind. Is that completely unheard of these days?

That policy could be an endorsement to live further from work as you are more likely to get time off- especially if absence was paid

NFMC

Agree. I'd be ticked off if I lived close but those people who commute by car for 20 miles get days off.

And they're always the ones who are late because of traffic or leave early because of matches (I work just by Old Trafford) but I get tut-tutted at the one or two times a year I get a puncture ('well, if you will ride to work...').

Belv

Graeme_S wrote:

You don't get sick pay!? :shock:

SSP only, except for one occasion when i refused to go home even though i was pretty rough. Eventually the MD told me he'd pay me out of his own pocket if necessary, just go home!
For that reason i have been the cause of a few bugs going round the office over the years. I feel guilty for my colleagues, but i cannot afford to lose a weeks money for the sake of a cold that hasn't stopped me cycling to work. And considering i've taken about 10 days off sick in my 8 and a half years here, i think i've earned the right to be paid for when i am off sick.

Bikedevil

When we had the flooding back in June I was expected to travel across the city center to work as usual the next day even though most of it was still under water, it had taken 2 and a half hours to do a 45min journey home the previous day and that was after being sent home because of the flooding affecting the roads, I refused to go in and went to the pub instead. The people who lived outside city limits were offered full pay the next day even if they didn't go in. They eventually agreed to pay everyone who couldn't get in though

jjojjas

if the weather is that severe, we'd be expected to come in to work as it would generally be full of sick people.....its a hospital.
If we can't get to work, then historically were to turn up at the nearest point of delivery for health care...such as the GP's. But thats "historical" and Iv'e never actually heard of it happening.
Jas

alfablue

A few years ago colleague of mine died in an RTA whilst travelling between sites in severe weather - I don't care what policy exists, or weather those that live nearby are "ticked off" by those taking time out for severe weather, this incident should be a lesson to us all about getting priorities into perspective.

Gambatte

Bikedevil wrote:

When we had the flooding back in June I was expected to travel across the city center to work as usual the next day even though most of it was still under water, it had taken 2 and a half hours to do a 45min journey home the previous day and that was after being sent home because of the flooding affecting the roads, I refused to go in and went to the pub instead. The people who lived outside city limits were offered full pay the next day even if they didn't go in. They eventually agreed to pay everyone who couldn't get in though

Similar.

When the floods hit Sheffield the roads were solid. Instead of trying to get home at 16:00 A few of us stayed at our desks, a few hit the pub. My manager and I didn't attempt to get home till 01:00 the next day. Bit hair raising, but with a bit of local knowledge, managed on stay on the high ground.
Both the manager and I weren't able to get in for the next 2 days. Mixture of motorway closure, areas still flooded, police requests for people not to travel and the small fact that my normal route would have taken me across the front of Ulley Reservoir!

The HR dept tried to haul both of us over the coals for not notifying them that we wouldn't be in, you're supposed to phone to let them know before 09:00

Couldn't phone in. My phone worked. Their exchange was underwater and the phones out of action for over a week!

neslon

The last time this was an issue was in the late 1980's, when the Newcastle school I worked in closed early when the snow was about a foot deep. Since then, there hasn't been weather bad enough to make school closure an issue (not in the ones I've worked in, which are in the Toon, Durham & Northumberland). Closing (or not opening) a secondary school causes massive disruption to thousands of people, so it tends to be avoided. There might well be a policy similar to the medic one described above, but no-one seems to know.

Cyclegent

We have a special 'skeleton staff' team at work who are expected to keep the place going in the event of severe weather disruption, transport strikes, war, civil strife, terrorist outbreak, acts of God etc.

This consists of three staff members who live within walking distance of the office and myself (I live five miles away) because I have a bicycle!

I'm glad my boss has such faith in cycling...I wouldn't fancy trying to peddle through an angry mob or a big flood...