spursmaddave Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I say NO as it is just a get out for everyone to not bother! Not saying for one minute that people should risk their own and others cars or even lives but I had several conversations with my drivers this morning who expected to stay in their warm bed and get paid too... I had no issue with them using any remaining holidays but if they had none left then no show, no pay... Their choice to live in the middle of nowhere and not prepare for the bad weather... Harsh or fair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 if the vans are not suitable for driving in the snow then they should be paid as they have not been given the correct tools for the job. My van was stuck for 4 days last year, if I had a 4x4 I would have been at work with no problems but the van would not physically move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 ok - fair vpoint from the employers point of view however - from the employed point of view its not their fault it snowed its not their fault where the employer holds his business police advice is "stay off the road" I'm both - so understand and accept both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Never not made it to work in 32 years of employment because of the weather. Only ever had two wheel drive vehicles as well that included a BMW535I Sport and a Vauxhall Carlton 3.0 24v GSI which were both utterly useless in the snow. But my undoubted driving skills always got me to work in very bad conditions. To many people throw their hands up in the air today and surrender at the first sign of a snow flake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 We pay employees if they can't get in or are sick or have to leave work early for whatever reason. In return they work late at short notice and without breaks if things go awry. Give and take and all that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I think a fair comment is that scotland generally get worse snow than others. We had 3ft of snow last year and the motorway was shut for 2 days to clear 4 inches of ice. lol Dan, you naughty boss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beavis Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I also went out to a nice country pub for a birthday meal last night. When we arrived, the car park only had 4x4's in the car park, i arrived in my 2 wheel drive shed with no traction control and no ABS The other people in the pub were looking through the window at us arriving as if we were totally mad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Spent 1.5 hours dropping my wife off at work last night (usually takes 15 minutes, about 5 miles so not really walking distance). Some of more junior colleges didn't make it in over night which is just about understandable if they lived out in the sticks, but apparently 2 people called in at 9am to say they couldn't get to work for the AM shift....considering this morning the buses were running its a pretty lame excuse for been a lazy ...but given its the NHS they'll still get paid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I agree to a point, some people decided last night they would not go in today, then woke up from their lie in to see cars going about their business etc. Certainly doable, just need to be careful. Went for a walk just now and cars are everywhere going about their business. So can understand how frustrating it must be when people ring in to say they can't make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 I wasn't looking for backing as I know I am always right Seriously though we had a team of guys working all night clearing our yard and all the roads around were clear also so absolutely no issue for the drivers once they got in, and at the end of the day they are professionals so should be able to cope better with poorer than normal road conditions seeing as they drive for a living... An example of my ethos, a driver called in at 3am to say he had tried to move his car but couldn't so he was going to walk in from Tilbury to Thurrock , just as I put the phone down another guy rang in who lives in the same area to say it was too dangerous to even leave his house and in his opinion too dangerous to drive. When I said that we already had other drivers in and out on the road he said that was their choice, so I told him it was also my choice if I paid him or not and my choice was that I wouldn't. No doubt he will speak to his union rep and try and get my ar$e hauled in but the fact is the other guy actually walked PAST his house to get in and knows this driver and said that his drive / car / house was untouched by human hand so he had obviously decided that he wouldn't even attempt to try and get in. The guy that spent an hour walking to work was given a short local run and sent home, he will be paid for 10 hours work today, they guy that is probably still in his pyjamas and slippers will get paid feck all, simples I'm not a hypocrite, I drove my Zed into work last night at 8pm and I drove it home at 6am this morning. If I lived in a remote inaccessible area through choice I would drive something suitable and most likely 4wD. I just think that the attitude of some spoils it for the main, last year we had a driver 'stranded' at home for nearly 3 weeks in the bad weather.... where does he live? Alaska? The Scottish Highlands? Cornwall? Nope he lives in Tunbridge Wells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 The weather would need to be considerably worse for people not to be able to get in. I remember working 60 miles away from home two winters ago when snow happened. I obviously made it in in my rear-wheel sports car whereas the rest of the team (5 people) including people living 2 miles away (I kid you not) and nobody further than 20 sat at home. Typical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfman Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I've not missed a day of work so far because of weather, and have owned RWD sports cars for the past 3-4 years. This RAGED me last year as a lad i work with didn't come in for a week, couldn't get his work van out of his drive and refused to use his car (something i do every day and never even once got to have a works van). So i struggled every day, and when i got stranded in newcastle at the GF's i got the train. The lad who didn't come in ownes a Evo4, he then posts photo's of him playing in the snow and driving about in his car in the snow a week later and brags about how he got time off and got paid. Busses passed his house everyday and we got a Email saying employee's should get public transport into work if they couldn't use works or there own vehicles, he still didn't turn in. Really REALLY boils my ****. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiingsi Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Personally I think that if you don't turn up you don't get paid, if you atleast make an effort then its considerable but not even getting out of bed before calling in . I used to work at an engineering company where if you didnt turn up you still got paid (bad weather,sick, etc) and at the first sign of snow loads of people would say they cant make it, but now I work on the railway. I travel all over the country and its abit different now if they no there not going to get paid. People actually put an effort in to get to work even if you get halfway there and get told to turn around by the boss atleast it shows willing and are more than likely going to get paid(in my case anyway). Just yesterday for exampole to get to machester we had to ditch the work van an go in two cars it took us double the time to get there due to the two main roads been shut but we persevered and got rewarded we turned up and the gaffa let us get off early and get paid the full shift Also as said above if someone in the same area can get in just by something as simple as walking because its not that far then they should feel ashamed and there for don't deserve to get paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke0549 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 i live on a farm and at the end of my drive is a hill which i have to travel up to get to work. i have a BMW 320. It took me and my dad an hour and a half to get my car to the end of the drive. Because as everyone knows, they are the worst car in the snow. Yes, i was late for work, but when i got there my boss congratulated me for coming in and said i could go once i checked and replied to my emails. Win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasha@lazytrips Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 There is the additional argument that it is ultimately your choice of purchasing a wide-tyred rear-wheel drive sports car and not your employer's fault that it can't get you to work when other sensible cars will. It's like buying a lambo, then phoning up the next day to say that unfortunately your lambo is too wide for the track that takes you to the main road hence you can't come in to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 As someone with one of the longer commutes I have never not got to work because of the weather. I have often gone the day before to make sure i get there. Its funny how people always seem to get home from work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSet Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I've only ever missed one day through bad weather, that was in December 1981 when a blizzard struck at midday on a Sunday and I was due at work at 3.00. Even guys on The Wirral which rarely gets snow were stuck as the drifts were up to 3 feet deep. In all, some 25 employees out of a workforce of 250 never made it to work the next day (including The general manager and the HR manager). It was decided as a one off not to penalise anyone as we had all used our holiday allowance for the year. However, we were told that if it happened again we would have to give up a days holiday even if it meant deducting a holiday from next years entitlement. Several of my friends who worked at British Steel couldn't get home and had to sleep over in work that day as just about every road was closed for several hours Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Its funny how people always seem to get home from work. You say that but a few years back it took me 9hrs to get from Slough to Basingstoke Funnily enough when there is a chance of snow the laptop comes home with me and I work quite happiy from there. I actually get more done as I dont get people always chatting to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 My team are deemed 'operationally essential' for Europe, Africa and Caspian operations. We don't get a car allowance or anything but all drive 4x4s with good tyres on. Also my work have provided us with access to the staff house fairly close by and we can use the local hotel if the weather is bad and get it fully reimbursed. If the roads are really bad then we can ask for a taxi to take us to work and then use the hotel. In my opinion if you HAVE to be in work then there should be contingency in place. I also think that It's your choice where you work and live so make sure you can get in. We are located in a small town and much of the work force come from very rural locations, very seldom do people not show up. We also get paid if we don't show up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I work in a small business of about 10 people. We all have clients we have to service, sure we back each other up at times but generally if I don't turn up to work my clients suffer and they don't come back to us. It's called being responsible. I can't just take the day off because it snowed a bit. I assume those that didn't bother to show just assumed the work would magically get done by someone else? Or those that do show have to do double the work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 In my job I sometimes have no choice. I travel all over the country and last year got stuck for over 9 hours to travel 5 miles. The van then got stuck as the road had 3ft I snow on it and the van would not move. The other problem we had was that was no fuel in a 20mile radius and the ones that had fuel couldn't pump it as it froze. We had minus 20 last year and it was a disaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantone Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I've also never lost a single day's work in my life. I drove to work in 21" last winter but very few turned up, normal cars could just not handle the depth. We need full teams to be able to function so I was sent home and paid for the day. No work = no wages has always seemed fair to me. Nobody has ever been snowed out of a pub! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 but the fact is the other guy actually walked PAST his house to get in and knows this driver and said that his drive / car / house was untouched by human hand so he had obviously decided that he wouldn't even attempt to try and get in. Had to laugh at that. I remember a few years back when it was bad snow our finance director phoned in saying he was snowed in, and yet I had a much longer drive in than him and actually drove past his street in order to get in. I used to pride myself on always getting into work. Even when I used to use my motorbike 365 days of the year. Id still get into work when others would cry that they were snowed in. Same as dragging myself to work when im seriously ill. Then I realised that work never ever thanked me for it and never did me any favours in return, so it makes you think why bother. My current company have a very strict policy. You are only allowed 3 days sick in 1 year. Any more and it comes out of your pay. Similarly its up to you if you cant get into work cos of weather conditions, but if your not in the office you wont get paid. Fortunately most of my guys are able to physically "work from home" if the weather is really really bad, and its down to me to decide if i`ll let them or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 You are only allowed 3 days sick in 1 year. Any more and it comes out of your pay. erm ..... isn't that contrary to employment law ?? (i'm no solicitor by the way ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 You are only allowed 3 days sick in 1 year. Any more and it comes out of your pay. erm ..... isn't that contrary to employment law ?? (i'm no solicitor by the way ) I know the company looked into it at the time and if i remember rightly by law you didnt have to pay any sick pay at all. Its entirely up to the company`s discretion. The employee can claim statuatory sick pay if they are off long term sick or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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