Due to the winter weather which may affect services through the closure of premises, please read ALL the following information carefully. Please ensure that staff contracts and contracts with parents reflect the situations and information below with respect to payment of wages, time-off, annual leave and fees.
Please note that if an out of school care (OSC) service is unable to operate due to a closure of premises then staff should still be paid- staff can use this time to study for qualifications, research new ideas etc. even if they are at home. Most OSC services will not be able to cover the costs of paying staff without gathering fees, so parents should be made aware through a policy and contract that fees will still be gathered. If a service is able to, and has reserves, they may choose to waiver fee payment for one day, or some other such arrangement; this decision however is down to individual services.
Please find below information which has been taken directly from gov.uk, the website for government information and services, and Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) website, www.acas.org.uk
Source: https://www.gov.uk/travel-disruption-your-rights-at-work
Employees should talk to their employer about working from home, taking leave or making time up later if they cannot get to work because of travel disruption.
Rights about travel disruption can be outlined in the employment contract - employees should check this first.
If there's travel disruption, employers can ask staff to take paid holiday (annual leave) if they give the correct notice.
This must be at least double the length of time they want employees to take in annual leave. So for 1 day's annual leave it would be 2 days notice.
The employment contract may set down a different notice period and if so, this will usually apply.
Employers may ask flexible workers to work from home or make up time later. Unless the employment contract says so, employers cannot insist on this.
If the workplace is closed because of disruption and the employee does not usually work from home, employers cannot usually deduct pay.
Employers might be able to ask staff to go to another workplace or work from home.
If an employee's child's school is closed or their normal childcare arrangements are disrupted, they could have the right for time off to look after them.
This should be agreed between the employee and the employer.
Employees are not automatically entitled to pay if they're unable to get to work because of bad weather. Guidance is available from Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) about winter weather - travel disruption.
Source: https://www.acas.org.uk/disruption-getting-to-work
It's usually the responsibility of employees to get to and from work.
However, sometimes something beyond an employee's control can affect them getting to work. For example:
If someone cannot get to work or is delayed, they should contact their employer as soon as they can.
The employer should talk through their options and make clear if their pay will be affected.
The employer and employee should make sure they have each other's contact details and stay in contact.
Depending on their job, the employee could check if:
When disruption makes getting to work difficult or impossible, employers and staff should be as flexible as they can.
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:
When agreeing other options for work with staff, employers should:
An employer can ask if employees would like to take holiday if they are unable to get to work due to disruption.
An employer can also tell employees that they must take holiday. This might be an option if they know about the disruption in advance, or it's likely to go on for a long time. The employer must give twice as much notice as the amount of holiday they want employees to take.
For example, if they want employees to take 1 day of holiday when there's disruption, they must give them 2 days' notice.
An employee might prefer to take paid holiday, if they do not get paid during disruption.
There might be circumstances where it's not possible for an employee to take holiday. For example, where they have already used up their annual leave for that year.
As alternatives in this situation, the employer could:
If an employee has an emergency situation where they need to help someone who depends on them, they have the right to take 'time off for dependants'.
Emergency situations could include when:
Employers should plan for when extreme weather affects staff who drive for their job, for example delivery drivers or travelling salespersons.
The employer should:
The employer should see if they can make any other arrangements, depending on the work. For example:
If you have questions about when disruption affects staff getting to work, contact the Acas helpline: https://www.acas.org.uk/contact
Source: https://www.acas.org.uk/extreme-temperatures-in-the-workplace
There is no legal maximum or minimum working temperature.
But by law, employers have a 'duty of care' to make sure working temperatures are reasonable for their staff. This includes at the workplace and working from home.
This means if extreme temperatures are expected, employers should:
For example, depending on if it's hot or cold, employers could:
By law, employers must carry out health and safety risk assessments for all women of child-bearing age, including anyone who's pregnant, breastfeeding or just had a baby. If a risk cannot be avoided or removed, the employer must suspend the person on full pay until the risk has ended or been removed.
When doing risk assessments, employers must include those with health conditions or disabilities that can be affected by extreme temperatures. They should talk with the employee and agree on a suitable solution. For example, adjusting their working hours or having an air-conditioning unit by their desk.
Although there's no legal maximum or minimum working temperature, health and safety guidance is that a reasonable temperature should usually be at least 16°C. If much of the work involves a lot of physical effort, it's 13°C.
What is reasonable also depends on the working environment and type of work. For example a bakery, office, warehouse or cold storage could all reasonably be expected to have varying temperatures.
Find more guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE): https://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/index.htm