Red Weather Warning – Advice for Employers
With the arrival of Storm Éowyn and a red weather warning for the country in place, employers should be aware of their health and safety obligations towards employees.
Extreme and severe weather events can impact on an employee’s ability to report for work and an employer’s ability to operate his/her business and be able to provide work.
The National Emergency Co-ordination group met have advised that employers in red warning areas should facilitate working from home for all employees who can do so. Only emergency service workers should be leaving for work, where directed by their employer.
Public Transport: Public transport will not be operating during a red warning and an assessment will be made when the warning is lifted. Generally, if public transport shuts down and the workplace is open this should not trigger pay obligations, but employers are advised to take a reasonable approach in such circumstances.
Pay: Generally, when an employer’s office/business remains open, any absence by an employee (even in context of adverse weather) is unauthorised and therefore unpaid. However, when the employer makes the decision to close its premises because of severe weather, employees should not be penalised for their non-attendance at work and should be paid regardless of their absence.
Annual leave: Employers may allow employees take annual leave for the day or days covered by the event in which case they would be paid.
Change of roster: Normally employees are entitled to at least 24 hours notice of a roster change. However, this does not apply in exceptional circumstances as with extreme weather events.
Communication: It is best practice to be transparent with employees and clearly communicate with them about what is expected in terms of attendance if it is an issue during poor weather conditions. Employers should ensure they have up to date contact information for staff to advise of workplace closures.