Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by paying tribute to the great work of the national emergency co-ordination group, the local councils, volunteers, the emergency services and all of those who went to work in very difficult circumstances to ensure that essential services were provided.

As Deputies will be aware, during the course of the recent extreme weather event the country experienced, a status red alert warning was issued by Met Éireann. Red alerts are rare and serious occurrences and they should not be taken lightly. The notice that was provided in the lead-up to the recent extreme weather event provided some time to allow businesses to put in place plans to deal with the situation. Throughout this recent event, the Government strongly encouraged businesses to pay careful attention to the information and updates that were issued from the Government’s national emergency co-ordination group following the severe weather warnings from Met Éireann.

The most important issue for Government, citizens and employers is that of safety. This is the paramount and overriding concern for everyone. In the context of a red weather alert, businesses were asked to carefully assess whether, given the constraints on public transport and the deteriorating snow conditions, it was possible or necessary for them to open. They were asked to examine alternatives to accommodate workers such as working from home where that proved feasible and practical, agreeing to work back working time lost and so forth. In such situations however, the Government cannot give blanket advice to all businesses given that some companies are engaged in essential services such as power generation, services to vulnerable people and so on. Ultimately, businesses have to make their own individual decisions based on their duty of care to their staff. I was encouraged to note that industry representative organisations, including IBEC and ISME, encouraged businesses they represent to show flexibility with workers and emphasised the need to be vigilant as regards safety for workers.

In general, under employment law there is no statutory obligation on an employer to pay an employee where that employee cannot attend for work. Payment of wages in situations where an employee is unable to attend work due to severe weather conditions is primarily a contractual matter between employers and employees. Many employers will have absence management policies in place to deal with such circumstances. Employers may have included policies and procedures in their contracts of employment to cover severe weather events to provide for certain flexibilities, for example, to allow the taking of annual leave, the possibility to work from home where feasible and practical or to work back the hours or days lost and so forth. I would always encourage employers to engage constructively with their employees in these kinds of situations, bearing in mind that safety is paramount.

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