An employment solicitor has shared an employers rights if they struggle to get into work due to travel disruptions.
With more rail strikes set to take place this month, Employment Law Solicitors have answered some common questions from employers worried about their workers not getting to work. The ECHO previously reported that the RMT union announced walkouts on 14 train operating companies in July.
The announcement continues the bitter dispute between the union and the government over pay and working conditions. In total 20,000 railway workers will walk out. This month sees further nationwide industrial action across transport links, specifically the rail networks.
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Whilst the basis of the strikes is widely accepted, there is no doubt that there will be great travel disruption for millions of employees, without any clear guidance for employers. Jackson Lees Employment Law Solicitor, Hannah Dowd has shared the answers to some common questions.
Are employees entitled to pay for working hours missed because of transport disruption?
Technically, there is no requirement for an employer to pay an employee for missed work due to transport issues/disruptions. This goes to the root of the contract of employment and by not working their contractual hours means that the employee is not fulfilling their contract of employment.
In principle, an employer would be within its rights to refuse to pay an employee who misses work because of transport disruption. Even when the issue is out of the control of the employee, this is still the case.
However, it is not good practice to follow this regime, even if the law is on the employer's side. We would always advise employers that even though their staff are not working because of transport disruption, to deduct their salary as a result could lead to low staff morale and a risk of damaging the employers reputation - which I would always suggest are crucial to the success of a business.
We operate a hybrid working model. Can we insist that an employee is in the office on the days that they agree to work from the office?
Hybrid working models should be drafted and built with sufficient flexibility in order to allow an employee and their line manager/team leader to agree to working remotely on days when they would be expected to attend work. The practical and most sensible solution is to allow an employee to work remotely when delays/cancellations and disruptions are preventing an employee from attending work.
It may be agreed for the employee to attend work on a different day, for example one whereby the employee would normally be working remotely. Again, the risk to the reputation of a business and staff morale can be seen to greatly outweigh not showing a degree of flexibility at a time when it is inevitable there will be some disruption to an employees working day.
Can employees take annual leave because of transport disruption?
This could be a good option for some employees, and there is nothing to stop an employer suggesting to the employee that they could take leave when they are unable to attend work due to disruptions. However if an employee has used up their allowance this can create difficulty and shift swaps should be an option, or making time up to prevent a financial deficit to the employee.
Disruption to childcare
Hannah said employees have a statutory right to a reasonable period of unpaid time off for dependants under section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996. "Dependant" means a spouse, civil partner, child, parent or person who lives in the same household as the employee other than as an employee, tenant, lodger or boarder
The right applies where an employee needs to take time off work because of unexpected disruption to the care arrangements for a dependant. It would apply where a nursery is closed due to issues with their staff, for example staff shortages or the unavailability of a child minder.
An employee should always try to inform their employer as soon as practically possible and if possible, try to identify the length of time they might need to have off from work. The right to time off for dependants is designed to allow the employee to deal with an unexpected event and to make alternative arrangements.
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