Last week, much of the country drew to a halt as the heavy snow continued to fall. Many of the UK’s transport systems came to a standstill for the second time this year and there was no way of knowing how many people were able to make it into work. An article by the BBC indicated that on the Tuesday morning, ‘The Jeremy Kyle Show’ had an extra 200,000 viewers than the previous week. Perhaps this was due to the snow, or maybe it was just a ‘must-see episode’!
The inability to travel to work due to cancelled trains, closed schools and snowed-in cars throws up some interesting questions for employers and employees alike. For example, if an employee is willing but unable to work should they be paid? What are their rights and what is a reasonable position for an employer to take? Unfortunately the legal answer is very straightforward; an employer is only required to pay you for hours that you actually work. In short, no work means no pay – unless an employer makes specific provisions within your contract then they have no obligation to pay you, regardless of circumstances. Of course, if you are lucky and your employer is keen on employee relations, you will be paid if you were forced to stay at home due to the bad weather.
Anyway, I thought we were all supposed to be remote workers now? Many experts predicted that the advent of broadband, cloud technology, greater awareness of worker welfare and environmental concerns would have a radical effect on our working patterns but the impression I get is that whilst home working is possible, not all employers view it as particularly desirable.
Looking ahead, our transport systems continue to creak under the strain – as any regular commuter into our cities and towns know too well. More people working from home would alleviate the problem, so why hasn’t it turned out that way? Maybe we can compare it to the concept of a ‘paperless office’ (look around your office and judge your progress on that); the vision hasn’t materialised because it simply isn’t practical. As a manager, I couldn’t run my ‘office’ from home every day as the level of scrutiny and detail needed in our work simply couldn’t be achieved (and this is the message I hear from many other employers).
The model of home-based staff works mainly only on the assumption that employees are able to work efficiently without interacting directly with the rest of the team. I also think that while home working is handy when it’s snowing, my personal experience hasn’t left me praying for the next snowfall. Maybe the mass demand isn’t there from employees who like the cut and thrust of the office environment in spite of the commute.
Andy Bristow started his career in recruitment in 1999, before moving to specialise in the IT sector. He joined Hays IT in 2002 and is now responsible for developing Hays IT’s delivery into the software development market.
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