Similar to yesterday's post, I was asked about a person's rights if their child's school was closed.

I looked it up, and an employer has to allow unpaid parental leave in the case of an emergency affecting their children, and this reasonably applies to school closure.  As with yesterday's scenario, I suggest discussing in advance any issues around this.  Could you work from home?  Can you take annual leave, or work back the hours another time. 

Hope this helps.

Here in the UK we had a bit of snowy weather a couple of weeks ago and some people were not able to make it in to the office.  We have a weather warning out again for the end of the week, and I thought I had better check what your rights are if you do take a day off.

In my own situation I am able to travel to a local branch instead of my usual location at Head Office, and as I live a short walk from a branch in fact my commute is a lot easier.  If there is a more convenient branch of your business, check with management to see if they will accept that option as an alternative.  Another good option is to work from home.  Some people can access their email from home, which helps.  Can you take some work home at the end of the day if the forecast is bad for tomorrow?  It's worth asking your manager.  For a manager it is probably easier to agree to this than get into arguments about having unpaid days.

As far as your rights go, if you can't get in to work, your company is not required to pay you for the lost day.  To avoid losing a day or two of pay you could call in sick (genuinely of course) or ask to take some annual leave.  Ask if you can work back the lost time at a later date.  Most employers will be reasonable about this. 

If your place of work closes, then your employer cannot deduct your pay and cannot make you take annual leave without notice.  You may, however, be required to work from home.

You may have a contract of employment that specifically mentions what happens if you cannot get in to work.  It's worth checking to see what terms apply.

Overall, if you can discuss these issues as they apply to you with your employer ahead of time you should be able to reach an satisfactory agreement.  Having that conversation now avoids worry about it when the snow comes and there are fewer choices open to you.

Here is a handy summary from the BBC.