Riots: Advice for employers

Employment Law & HR update 10/08/2011

Mentor is on hand to provide help to businesses unlucky enough to be affected by the recent disruption caused by rioting in several of our major cities.  Even if you’ve been lucky enough not to be affected, would you know how to deal with staff who don’t feel safe travelling to work or who have to be sent home when the workplace closes? 

Here, our Employment Law & HR team provide answers to some of the tricky questions employers across the UK have been facing this week. Remember that specific advice on your organisation’s situation is available from our 24 hour Telephone Advice Service.

I have closed my business temporarily due to safety concerns – do I still have to pay my employees?

Yes. If you can’t provide work for employees who are willing and able to work you should pay them their normal rate of pay.

Employees could be ‘laid off’ without normal pay if there is a specific term in the contract allowing the employer to do this. Employees are entitled to a statutory Guarantee Payment if they are laid off without pay. The current rate is a maximum of £22.20 per day for up to five days in any period of three months. An employee who normally works three days per week would be entitled to a maximum of three days’ guarantee pay in the three month period.

Can I take disciplinary action against an employee who can’t come to work because his child’s nursery has closed due to the rioting?

Employees are entitled to emergency time off to care for dependants. The time off can be unpaid and should only be for a reasonable length of time, to allow for alternative care arrangements to be made. If the employee has contacted you to tell you about the situation then disciplinary action would not be appropriate.

An employee who is dismissed as a result of taking emergency time off to look after a dependant will be regarded as unfairly dismissed.

Some employees have refused to come in to work because of travel difficulties. Do I still have to pay them?

No. If you remain open for business but your employees do not come to work you are not legally obliged to pay them.

You might want to consider alternatives, such as temporary home working, amending working patterns or allowing employees to take paid holidays at short notice.

Can I make employees take holidays if they are not coming to work?If your employees are entitled to the statutory minimum holiday entitlement of 5.6 weeks per year, you should normally give them twice as much notice as the amount of holiday you want them to take.  Any additional entitlement over the statutory minimum is not subject to the same rules, unless that is stated in the contracts of employment.

On the other hand, if employees who don’t come to work ask to take a day’s holiday, there is nothing to stop you agreeing to this.