What should I do if my employees can’t come to work due to bad weather? - HR Insights

What should I do if my employees can’t come to work due to bad weather?

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Question:

With winter coming up, I’m worried my business might not be prepared if the weather gets bad. What should I do if my employees can’t come to work due to bad / inclement weather?

Answer:

If an employee can work remotely, you should allow them in times of inclement weather. For non-remote employees, consider closing the office and allowing them to take advantage of available vacation or other paid time off to substitute for otherwise unpaid time. Some states may grant them protected leave they are able to use for inclement weather.

Long Answer

Vida HR primarily operates out of Colorado, so we’re no strangers to inclement weather. When that ice hits the road, it’s no joke. For the safety of your employees, we strongly recommend having an inclement weather policy if your company is based in an area with a consistent record of hazardous conditions.

But what exactly should you do?

There aren’t many laws or regulations that relate to inclement weather, and most of them are related to employee leave, rather than dictating what an employer must do.  In cases where the weather makes traveling to the workplace hazardous, we recommend you close your offices if possible. Many employers look to nearby school districts to measure how dangerous the weather is – if the school closes down, the business does as well.

In the event of a closure, if you have employees that can work remotely, you can still require that they work for the day. This gets more complicated if your employees don’t have that capability. In most cases, employers opt to give an unpaid day off – though we recommend allowing employees to use any accrued vacation or PTO to supplement the unpaid time should they wish. Some employers may be tempted to require this – we don’t generally recommend that, and some states may limit your ability to do so, especially if you don’t have a written policy indicating vacation/PTO must be used in the event of an office closure.

In cases where it’s a little more uncertain, or where the weather may affect some employees’ commute more than others, we recommend giving the employees the choice of whether or not to come into work, especially if they can work remotely. If they can’t work remotely, and your business can handle the absence, we again recommend giving them the choice to either take an unpaid day off, or use vacation/PTO to supplement the unpaid time.

It is important to note that some states allow employees to use accrued leave in the case of inclement weather. Colorado allows employees to use paid sick leave if inclement weather forces them to evacuate their home, or if they need to care for a family member whose school or place of care was closed due to the weather. Minnesota also allows employees to use sick leave in the event their place of business was closed due to weather.

When it comes to inclement weather, caution is generally the best practice. Remote work has made this issue much easier to deal with, but there are still cases where an employee’s job cannot be done remotely. Consider creating an inclement weather policy so you are prepared when, as the song goes, the weather outside is frightful.

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What should I do if my employees can’t come to work due to bad weather?

Please note: This information is not legal advice and may not reflect specific state or local requirements.