Now that we are in the full grip of winter and its associated weather challenges in much of the country, we thought we would dedicate this week’s HR Minute to issues surrounding inclement weather policies.
First, let’s cover your obligations to employees in cases where the office is closed due to bad weather, or where the office is open but the employee is tardy or unable to make it to work. Do you pay them for a snow day? Or no?
In both instances, the short answer is that non-exempt, hourly employees do not have to be paid (but they certainly can be if it is your policy to do so). However, your salaried, exempt employees must be paid their usual salary checks – they cannot be docked any pay under these circumstances. However, you can require that they use vacation or paid-time-off if they have any available. Read more about this.
For an overview on inclement weather pay issues, click here. For a more general article on the issue of docking pay, click here.
Beyond the pay issue, you should have a clear policy on weather closures and communicate it to your employees. This inclement weather policy should…
- – Be clear about how office closures will be communicated and how employees should notify work if they are unable to make it in.
- – Cover whether the employee will be paid or be required to take leave if the office is closed or they are unable to make it into the office or if they are tardy.
– Identify any essential employees and what is expected of them in terms of attendance and function in cases of bad weather.
– Cover whether non-exempt employees will be able to make up missed time.
– Establish your expectation or preferences are of having employees work from home, including how they will track their time and be paid (in the case of non-exempt employees).
For more on inclement weather policies in general, click here. In the meantime, stay safe and stay warm!
