Employers being understanding about the weather conditions

I've got staff who work through the night so am very conscious of their effort to get in and get home. I've no issue if someone can't get out of their estate from getting a taxi to/from the main road and walking to/from their estate and charging it to us, or even doing so if they're nervous/learner drivers. I like people to make a reasonable sensible effort but there is nothing that we do that's worth someone's life and if they can't get in, they can't get in. I really couldn't care if they're 10 minutes late and I think any manager that does, in the circumstances, is rather pathetic
 

Why is it ridiculous? It is your decision where you live and work, I don't see what's so ridiculous about that. Personally I've always had commute in mind whenever I've applied for a job or taken work, maybe that's just me.

And the current situation is important for employers too don't forget, all hands on deck and all that.
 
Latrade said:
Why is it ridiculous? It is your decision where you live....
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But youve got no control over weather conditions in your area and as already stated by someone else on the thread, in some cases the conditions are worse in certain areas than they were for the past 10 years.

Im not saying people shouldnt make an effort, but similarily bosses should be understanding as some areas have been very badly hit - through no fault of the employee.
 

I don't think anyone is talking about abusing the situation or leaving their employer in the lurch. I think people are simply saying that there is no reason why common sense and cooperation can not be used to minimise the disruption on both employer and employee.
 

That's basically the same as what I was in the process of typing.

How would an employer feel if an employee that was going to extreme lengths to get in for work ended up in an accident or some sort of calamity?
 

That's all true, but it's not the fault of the employer either. Yes it would be nice for some cooperation but it shouldn't be seen as a gimme and an employer being portrayed as unreasonable if they were unable to make such arrangements.

There is a mechanism in place for such situations and it is annual leave or if none left, unpaid leave. Why should employers be expected to take the hit for personal geographic circumstances, weather conditions and lack of planning by local authorities or the dept of the env?
 

I think you may be misunderstanding what some people are saying (well, me anyway). I'm not taking issue with employers taking such days out of annual leave entitlement, yes, it's not the most desirable course of action but obviously some sort of arrangement must be in place for such days. Obviously at the end of the year it is unlikely people will have many days left and will end up having to take unpaid leave which particularly before christmas is a hard hit but that's that.
 
Latrade said:
Why is it ridiculous? It is your decision where you live and work,
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So you should be limited to working in locations within a range of your home, or be prepared to move home if you change jobs ?

I disagree. When we bought our home, proximity to work was low on the list of priorities. I placed a premium what the location offered when I was not at work, over the logistics of a commute and some random weather event.
 
How about we just agree that the public sector should either be in work or be docked pay but there should be a certain amount of flexibility in the private sector because the employees have proven themselves to be much more adept at ensuring that services continue to be provided even with fewer staff because of our greater flexibility with regard to work practices.
 

huh?
 

You might be surprised how many AAMers agree with that statement!
 

Where did I say that, I simply stated that your home, it's location and therefore any local geographical issues/events are specific to you and at your discretion. Employers shouldn't be expected to shoulder the burden or cost of where you chose to live and the consequences of that decision.

I said that I personally had always thought about where a job vacancy was and how I would get there from where I live before I applied for jobs. But that may well just be me.

You signed a contract to be in at certain hours on certain days. The contract has some reasonable emergency provisions, your employer honours it so should you. If the issue is outside of these T&Cs and it's related to where you live and your commute, people can't expect a free day off just because they fancy wrapping themselves up in the duvet when it's cold.
 
Latrade said:
....people can't expect a free day off just because they fancy wrapping themselves up in the duvet when it's cold.
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Where on the thread has anyone suggested that they just fancied wrapping themselves in a duvet when its cold?

I had to dig my car out this morning. Cars leaving my estate were fishtailing all over the roads. There were cars abandoned all over the road along my route. There is a big difference between these things and 'just fancying wrapping yourself in a duvet because its cold'.
 

Fair enough, I cited something I inferred from what you had posted, rather than what you actually posted.

No employer should be expected to shoulder the burden of an employee being habitually late, arising from living a significant distance away. Where there is a rare event, such as significant November snow, an employer should be able to give the employee the benefit of the doubt for being late (as opposed to staying home). Anything else is, IMHO, Dickensian, e.g. what PixieBean posted.
 
TarfHead said:
Anything else is, IMHO, Dickensian, e.g. what PixieBean posted.
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Even there I'd have to defer judgement. I don't know if there was something crucial or important that was delayed as a result of the lateness, I don't know if the employee had phoned ahead to say they'll be a bit late (which I would do) and apologise. I don't know if the manager thinks that they trawled through snow drifts and blizzards and was in on time.

There should be give and take, but sometimes the employees just want the take side.
 
I started working here in may and have never been late once. People ringing to inform hr that they will be late was brought up at a staff meeting and hr said they'd rather people didn't call because they didn't have time to be fielding these calls at that time of the morning.

Nothing crucial or important was delayed, in fact I have had very little to do all day because two of the people I report directly to couldn't make it in today, ironic huh?
 

My own inference from work today, apologies, but it has to be something an employer must consider before allowing mass absenteeism.

And I sympathise, but again, that set of circumstances is not in the employer's control. If it is impossible to get in then there's annual leave or if no annual leave, unpaid leave.

It's unfortunate, but why should the employer be expected to shoulder the cost of the condition of the roads in your estate or local roads (unless they're the management agent/local authority) when they had no say in where you chose to live.
 
I started working here in may and have never been late once. People ringing to inform hr that they will be late was brought up at a staff meeting and hr said they'd rather people didn't call because they didn't have time to be fielding these calls at that time of the morning.

Nothing crucial or important was delayed, in fact I have had very little to do all day because two of the people I report directly to couldn't make it in today, ironic huh?
 
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