Obviously if the type of work allows and you have the technology, home working is the sensible option. Be clear about what you expect people to work on whilst working from home. Managing remote working staff is about measuring outputs rather than attendance. If staff need to be available at certain times in the day to respond to customers, make this clear and set up a rota so everyone knows when they must be available.

However, many employers will have job roles that are not able to be fulfilled through home working and they may find their employees have extra childcare responsibilities as schools close down because of the snow. In these cases difficult decisions on how to manage employees who have not been able to make it into work will have to be made.

The CIPD advises: ‘Employees can reasonably be expected to do their best to get into work. Where employees are genuinely unable to get in, and this can be demonstrated to the employer, decisions will have to be taken as to whether to allow line managers to use their discretion in granting special leave, whether to require employees to take annual leave, or whether to shut down operations altogether. There is no right or wrong answer to these questions, but employers must take care to be consistent in the way that they make the necessary decisions – guided by existing policies where relevant. Employees must speak to their employers if they are unable to get in, and not just treat the snow as automatic permission to take an unannounced holiday.’

Equally, employers should make clear to employees that they should not risk life and limb to get to work, and be understanding if employees need to leave early to avoid getting stranded unnecessarily on their way home – particularly if conditions worsen during the working day. Where employees are required to drive for work, employers also have a health and safety duty to ensure drivers are allowed extra time to complete journeys and factor in alternative routes – and that they are not pressurised to complete any journeys made dangerously difficult by the weather.”

Give us a call on 01473 281650 for further advice on what to do when the snow hits!

It’s not just the Boomtown Rats that don’t like Mondays – according to recent research by Mercer, more than a third of absenteeism in the UK occurs on a Monday. And be prepared, January is the month of the year with the highest reported absence of all. Although no one wants to prevent the genuinely poorly from making a speedy recovery, you might want to ensure that your absence policy and procedures are fit for purpose.

The average cost of absence in the UK is £600 per employee (8.1days) Do you know how much sickness costs you? We are the experts and can soon make sure you are properly covered if you do need to act.

Employers unaware of new eye test legislation

More than three-quarters of employers are unaware of new legislation requiring professional drivers to take more frequent eye tests, according to research from Specsavers. They claim that as many as one in three people who drive as part of their job may have substandard vision.

Recent legislation on eye tests for drivers, passed in the EU Parliament and due to come into force in 2011, will require commercial licence holders to have eye tests every five years. Holders of private licences will have to be tested every 10 to 15 years.