Uk floods: ‘If I cannot get to work, will I get paid?’
Request an professional: With more significant weather anticipated, what are your rights if you can’t get to operate simply because your residence has been flooded or your route to work is blocked? 
Photograph: PA
Floods have immobilised a lot of components of southern England and a developing variety of folks are being forced to take days off work simply because of flooded roads or closed railway lines.
Hundreds of home owners have also had to consider time off to deal with their flooded or damaged properties.
But what are your legal rights if you take a day off function simply because of an emergency this kind of as extreme climate? The following Q&A addresses some of the major concerns, with answers from our professional, Rebecca Davidson of Fox Williams solicitors.
one. If you are unable to get to function or think it is not really worth the hard work, can your employer choose not to shell out you for that day or count it as a day’s holiday??
The fundamental place is that an employee is only entitled to be paid for the perform that they have done. Consequently, if you are unable to make it to function and carry out your regular duties, your employer is not obliged to spend you for that day.
You ought to check your contract of employment and any particular policies, or an employee handbook, nonetheless.
Some employers give that personnel will be paid in the occasion that they are unable to get to function because of adverse weather problems, however in some cases they could be asked to demonstrate that they are unable to get to work. There may also be a restrict on how many such days an employee will be paid for.
Some employers may possibly also exercising their discretion to allow an worker to be paid if they are not in a position to get to function due to the fact of flooding, even if there is no formal policy in spot.
In several cases employers will agree with staff that they can get time off as holiday if they are unable to attain their spot of perform due to the fact of flooding. This time would therefore be paid, even though it would suggest using up your holiday entitlement.
two. If you operate fewer hrs than you are meant to as a outcome of the floods, can your employer lower your pay out professional rata?
An employer would typically be entitled to reduce your pay professional rata if you are in a position to operate fewer hrs due to the fact flooding has impacted your journey to function. Most employers would apply this only if employees missed a substantial portion of the functioning day.
three. If functioning from property is feasible, can your employer – or you – insist that you do so due to the fact of the floods?
Can an employee insist? Several personnel will in practice seek to perform from residence if they can’t get to work since of flooding. Assuming that your employer agrees that you can operate from house, which would rely on the work being compatible with home operating, this can be a practical remedy for both parties. The perform would even now get carried out, and you would be paid in the typical way.
Plainly this will not be a resolution for absolutely everyone and some jobs will not be compatible with residence functioning (such as a sales assistant in a shop). Staff are not able to force their employers to agree to house working (unless of course it is already portion of their contractual terms), but, offered that it is possible for the operate to be done from residence, most employers would agree to this as a sensible resolution.
Can an employer insist? As an worker you have to carry out the affordable guidelines of your employer. Offered that the facilities essential to carry out the work from home are there, that it is protected to do so, and that the occupation is compatible with home functioning, it would be sensible for an employer to call for you to function from property if you are unable to get to function on normal operating days.
four. If you locate out that your house has been flooded, are you entitled to any time off even though you sort out the immediate damage?
Staff have a statutory correct to unpaid time off to deal with emergencies relating to their dependants. Dependants include spouses, civil partners, children, parents and individuals who rely on the worker for help or to make arrangements for the provision of care. Strictly speaking, this does not cover an emergency brought on by your home flooding.
Even so, a lot of employers would in practice allow an worker unpaid time off to deal with the quick injury to their home, and some have policies in spot concerning time off to deal with a domestic emergency. Where there is no policy in area, this would just be at the discretion of your employer and would therefore want to be agreed by them.
Some employers may also agree that any such time off can be taken care of as vacation so that it is paid.
five. Can you declare bills from your employer for any extra fees incurred in getting to work, such as taxis, or for staying in a hotel rather of going home?
Unless there is a policy or a provision in your contract of employment which gives for this, the simple position is that these further costs can’t be charged to your employer.
Have you been unable to get to operate simply because of the floods? Electronic mail us your experiences at , or comment under.
Far more: How to ensure your flood insurance coverage claim is effective