The
volcanic ash blown over the UK and Europe from the
Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland has caused disruption to the aviation industry on a scale not seen in this country since World War II. This has affected not only those working within the airline industry, but many thousands of others who are stranded and unable to return to the UK.
The latest news reports suggest that flights into the UK may not resume normality until the end of this week at the earliest. With 150,000 Britons estimated to be stuck abroad, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano is going to impact on thousands of employers throughout the UK, as employees marooned overseas are unable to get back to work.
The situation will inevitably have a huge effect on business productivity, with many employees unable to come back to work for an indefinite amount of time and highlights the need for employers to have policies on disruptions to transport and wider disaster contingency plans.
Here at
RML, we’ve already had an important meeting cancelled due to a Venice-bound key attendant and some of our own staff members have been left high and dry in both France and Spain. We're communicating as much as possible by asking people to get in touch with status reports and options for travel and we have a dedicated group working on both short and long-term contingency planning.
One of the key concerns for employers will be whether the unplanned absence of stranded staff affects their annual holiday allowance or is treated as unpaid or paid leave.
Here’s a few points you might want to consider:1.Employers might want to audit their staff to see how many employees are affected. This enables HR to assess the scale of the problem and also analyse whether any extra support is required.
2. Make sure you have a policy in place dealing with the disruptions. This should cover issues such as the steps your employees are required to take to try to get to work, that they must contact their employer as soon as possible if they are unable to get to work, and the consequences of their not being able to make it to work. This should reduce the scope for confusion and disagreement.
3. Require employees to make reasonable efforts to get to work but take into account employees' individual circumstances. Bear in mind there will be extra strain on alternative modes of transport during disruptions and that employees may struggle to get to work even if they do not have to travel a great distance.
4. Consider how you will treat absence due to transport disruptions. As a general rule, employees must be ready and willing to perform their duties, so if they are absent from work without authorisation they are not automatically entitled to be paid. But if an employee is unable to get to work because of a natural disaster beyond the employee's control - you may wish to be more lenient. Remember to be consistent in your approach to avoid discrimination claims. You could discuss the options with the employee on his or her return.
5. If possible, allow the employee to work from where they are stranded. This may be the best option if they are abroad as a result of a business trip. It would be difficult to ask an employee to take holiday if they have become stranded as a result of work.
6. Where employees are unable to get to work because they have been on holiday and have become stranded due to transport disruptions, taking additional paid annual leave may be an option. There is nothing to stop you asking if employees would like to take extra holiday if they are unable to get to work. Many employees will find taking paid holiday preferable to losing a day's pay.
7. Think of other practical alternatives to requiring employees to take time missed as annual leave. For example, some employees may agree to make the time up at a later date or employers could allow employees to swap shifts.
8. Do not place unreasonable burdens on employees who have not been away on holiday and have been able to make it to work. Employers have a duty of care to all their employees and should also bear in mind the maximum periods that they can require employees to work under the Working Time Regulations 1998.
9. Remember that other organisations' employees may also be having difficulty getting to work, which may have a knock-on effect on your staff. Where, for example, schools are closed due to key staff being unable to get to work, your employees may have no option but to take time off to provide childcare. This is likely to fall under the right to take reasonable time off in relation to dependants.
10. The benefits to staff morale and productivity in the long run of paying staff in these circumstances is likely to outweigh the financial burden to the business of paying employees who cannot attend work this week.
Has the incident affected your business? Post your comments below…
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