New Year - same old problems for employers

by Hazel Phillips

As employees return to work for the New Year, employers are facing some familiar ‘wintry’ problems in the workplace. In this month’s bulletin we look at how best to tackle these issues.

Illness

It is not unusual for levels of staff illness to increase during the winter months, but this year employers are warned to expect higher than normal levels of absence due to the highly infectious stomach bug ‘norovirus’.

At present it is estimated that 200,000 people per week are coming down with the bug and that this is costing the economy £12 million per week in lost productivity. (Times 03/01/08)

If an employee has the bug they are advised not to visit their GP or the hospital, but to stay at home, so as not to spread the infection. The average duration of the illness is 48 hours. However, even after the symptoms have subsided employees are advised to stay at home for a further 48 hours, as they are still potentially infectious.

As Darren Simpson (a GP from Bradford) explains this advice is not being followed:

‘Very few people follow the advice on staying away from work because they have unsympathetic or nagging bosses’ (Independent 04/01/08)

It is important that if staff members are suffering from this virus then they are allowed to remain at home for the recommended period of time. Employers should not force their employees to attend their GP for a sick note whilst they are still within the period in which they can self certify. An employee can self certify illness for a minimum of the first 7 days of any bout of illness (it may be more depending on individual contracts). If your business does not have its own form for this purpose then the government has produced the SC2 self certification form which can be accessed at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/sc2.pdf.

For the vast majority of the people this illness is not serious and they recover within a couple of days. However, the potential for widespread sickness absence is such that employers need to take this illness seriously and allow infected employees the recommended time off to stop the illness spreading and causing a wider problem within their organisation.

Weather

Employers should also be wary about forcing employees to come in to work in hazardous winter conditions. If an employee is absent or late due to the weather conditions employers should consider whether this is reasonable and whether the employee has made a reasonable effort to attend work. If there is no reasonable excuse then the employee is absent without leave and the matter could be dealt with as a disciplinary matter.

If the excuse is reasonable then the employer could require the employee to use some of their annual holiday entitlement to cover the if their contract allows for this. If an employee’s contract allows for this then the employer should make sure that employees are aware of this.

When employees are absent from work due to bad weather many employers choose to allow absence with pay as this increases staff moral and often simplifies the situation. Employers should also be careful (from a safety point of view) that they are not forcing their employees to travel in dangerous conditions. Instead, employees should be encouraged to consider whether the journey is absolutely necessary and look at alternatives such as delaying the journey, home working or using public transport.

As the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health reports the key to dealing with the weather is to be prepared. Slips and trips are the cause of 38% of major injuries sustained at work and the risk of this kind of accident can be reduced by taking simple steps such as ensuring that paths are cleared and gritted.

Temperature

During a cold snap employers must ensure that their employees have a workplace that is warm enough to meet legal requirements.

Regulation 7 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires that the temperature of indoor workplaces is ‘reasonable’ during working hours. The Approved Code of Practice (available from the Heath and Safety Executive ISBN 0717604136) sets down the minimum working temperatures which are 16°C if the work is sedentary and 13°C if the work is physical.

If a worker is working outside there is no minimum temperature but regulation 11 states that all outdoor workstations should, ‘so far as reasonably practicable, be protected from adverse weather.’

If the temperature falls below the legal minimum workers are entitled to leave the workplace.

There are additional guidelines in place, for workplaces where a cold environment is necessary, such as within a food production plant.

Employers should not forget to maintain a safe temperature even outside of work hours to prevent frozen pipes and the subsequent damage and disruption to work that they can cause.

If you have any questions about the issues raised in this article or require advice on any other employment matter then please do not hesitate to contact Burnetts’ Employment Team on 01228 55 22 22.

Back to Employment Law E-Bulletin Jan 08

Read this month's cases in full

Jan 08