Snow and pay what are your rights?

[fridaypassion]

Got sent home today just after lunch. Our engineers are on the books so they book time to jobs. If they are sick they get no pay until ssp kicks in after 3 days. Where do we stand with loosing half a day? Should the employer make up the lost hours?

Also if we loose a full day tomorrow should the employer pay for the day or are we under obligation to book a day or loose a days pay?

[jeebus]

If you get sent home from work you are entitled to a full days pay, I think the law is that if you make yourself available for work and turn up, then you should get paid. If you don't turn up at all and your workplace is open, then you don't get paid.

[ShadownINja]

jeebus said:

If you get sent home from work you are entitled to a full days pay, I think the law is that if you make yourself available for work and turn up, then you should get paid. If you don't turn up at all and your workplace is open, then you don't get paid.

Not sure if it is law; I hear some dinner ladies being sent home despite turning up and it was highlighted that they would not be paid.

From another thread, I think the employer has the upper hand, rightly or wrongly.

[jeebus]

After a quick search I found this:

What if you are forced to close the office due to the severe weather conditions?

If you decide to temporarily close your business premises at short notice because of unforeseen circumstances, such as heavy snowfall, and there is no work available for your employees as a result, you cannot usually withhold pay.

If you do, employees could bring unauthorised deduction from wages claims to recover the pay owed. The only exception to this is if you have an 'unpaid lay-off' clause in your contracts of employment, or the employees expressly consent to being laid off without pay.

There are, however, complicated rules surrounding lay-off clauses, including rules about statutory guarantee payments, and you should take legal advice before proceeding.

I suppose the biggest factor is if you work for a large company or a small outfit.

[don4l]

You should, of course, get paid whether you do any work, or not.

After all, your employer has a machine which prints money. Obviously, your employer can produce money even if you don't help him make any profit. Your employer will just produce this money out of thin air so that you and your friends can get drunk on Friday night.

You do have your Human Rights. Don't let anyone take them away from you.

Don
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[/sarcasm]

[The Lukas]

I work for a large firm.

Last time (early this year) it snowed like feck here, I just got into work (many didn't bother) and we all got sent home at about 11am. And not to come in the next day or the day after, but come in the day after (Friday).

So we went home (I got stuck...) and got home eventually. Phew.

Turns out we were going to have all the time we didn't work taken off our holiday time, or worked back via overtime. The union could hardly do anything.... and I ended up having it taken off my holiday.



Ok, they ended up paying us all (even the guys who didn't bother making an effort and coming in!) for the Tuesday we were sent home for. But I still lost two days holiday time

I couldn't believe how stupid the company was regarding this. Everyone I have spoken too has said they've either taken more days off sick because of it or planning too. Plus of course the effect of moral to the workforce.

[berry100]

Severe weather isn't the companies fault...no work should be no pay IMO...no wonder the country is in half the state its in...

And breathe....rant over!

[Trevelyan]

berry100 said:

Severe weather isn't the companies fault...no work should be no pay IMO...no wonder the country is in half the state its in...

And breathe....rant over!

Normally I'd agree, but in this case it sounds like the employees turned up for work and the employer made the decision to close up for the day afterwards.

If I decided not to bother coming to work one day then I wouldn't expect to be paid for it. If however I made the effort and my employer then decided to send me home again I'd expect to be paid for the day.

[fridaypassion]

Well ours is a small firm and with 20 days holiday, no sick pay, no pension or any other kinds of perks I'll be damned if I'm dropping half a days pay for the buggers!

[NoNeed]

If you make yourself available the employer has to honour the contract. However he may apply layoff rules if business is not looking good. That would mean the statatuary minimum payment of about £25 a day.