How To Manage Snow Days At Work

When it comes to snow days, the worst thing you can do is not have a plan. We are just entering that time of the year when it is more likely to snow, so it’s best to get your business prepared before the snow arrives. When the snow hits the chaos and confusion begins, no one knows what to do and everyone starts to panic. Try and control the stress and panic in your office by making sure employees know exactly what is expected of them. Get your business ready for disruption by having a plan and putting things in place that will make things easier for staff.

You may want to introduce an ‘Adverse Weather Policy’ to help you manage chaotic snow days. Decide what you want the plan of action to be when a snow day hits and write a clear and concise document that explains everything to your staff. You can then hand this out to everyone and give it to new employees so they know what they are required to do.

You can also put information about travel and weather disruption into your employment contract.

One of the best things you can do is be flexible, because this will allow employees to get as much work done as possible. Allow people to come in late as long as they stay a bit later after work. Flexible working hours can really help when they weather is bad because people can work around the poor weather.

You should also be available to communicate with staff should they need to get in touch. On the morning of a snow day the first thing many employees will do is email or ring to find out what they should do. Send out a clear message to everyone and make sure you respond to individual issues regarding the weather.

In industries where it is possible, a lot of managers will simply allow their employees to work from home. If your employees can log in to an intranet, have internet access and a computer to work from then they should be able to be productive at home. Just be clear about what updates you need from staff and what you expect them to achieve.

If you think that some staff will be able to get into the office then make sure the office is open for them. Try and show that you appreciate them making the effort to get into work and by making the office warm and welcoming. Don’t ask staff to come in to work if the weather reports say it is too dangerous to travel, you need to consider their safety and well being. Check the weather reports regularly through the winter so that you can plan in advance if the weather is going to take a bad turn.

There is a lot of confusion over employee rights when it comes to snow and bad weather. In a lot of cases it really does depend on the individual business and working things out with staff when the snow hits. Make sure you know what you are expected to do as an employee by seeking legal advice.

Neil Maycock has worked in the HR field for over 20 years.. He recommends http://www.myhrtoolkit.com for all your HR software needs.