Policy/Procedure Full Details 

Policy outlining provisions and arrangements for employees, should adverse weather conditions affect their ability to attend work.
Adverse weather conditions include, but are not limited to, heavy snowfall and flooding.

Adverse weather (pub remains open)
If, because of adverse weather conditions, you are unable to come to work for a period of time, these are the available options:

·         Take the time off as holiday leave, if available.

·         Take the time off as unpaid leave.

·         You should follow the absence-reporting procedure.

Adverse weather (pub is closed)
If you are asked not to attend work because of adverse weather conditions and are given under 24 hours’ notice of cancellation, any hours scheduled will be paid in full.

If you are on a guaranteed minimum-hour (GMH) contract, you will be paid your GMH, or a proportion of it, for the first seven days of closure.

If the pub is closed for a longer period, you may be given the option of working at a different location or take paid holiday, if available, or unpaid leave.

If you are unable or unwilling to attend work at all in these circumstances, then your absence will be unpaid.

Pub closures of under one week
Where reasonable, while your pub is closed, you may be given the option of working at an alternative pub nearby.

In most circumstances, Wetherspoon will not pay travel expenses for you to work at this alternative location.

In most circumstances, if the pub is closed temporarily (not more than one week) because of extreme weather conditions and it is not possible to reasonably move you to a pub nearby to work, Wetherspoon will pay you for your scheduled (rota) hours for that time.

Pub closures of more than one week
If the closure is ongoing, and Wetherspoon cannot redeploy you to an alternative pub nearby, there are three possible options:

·         Unpaid authorised leave from work

·         Allocation of, or offer to take, annual leave, if available

·         Temporary layoff, if no other options are applicable.

If you are redeployed and this is going to last longer than four weeks, Wetherspoon will offer you a permanent transfer to the alternative pub, where possible.

See: Temporary pub closure and the reduction of work policy

Should the weather conditions cause disruption to journeys/public transport, school closures or other unforeseen circumstances, the following guidelines will apply:

Employees unable to work from home should follow the absence notification policy.

If employees are unable to come to work because of childcare issues, this is treated as emergency time off for dependants – see time off for dependants policy. This time off is unpaid. Alternatively, the time can be taken as holiday.

Employee's responsibilities

All employees should make all reasonable attempts to attend work and, if unable to do so, must follow the normal absence notification policy.

If employees are unable to come to work because of childcare issues, this is treated as emergency time off for dependants – see time off for dependants policy. This time off is unpaid. Alternatively, the time can be taken as holiday.

Management guidance

Should the weather conditions cause a workplace closure, disruption to journeys/public transport, school closures or other unforeseen circumstances, the following guidelines will apply:

·         Employees unable to attend work because of extreme weather conditions should follow the absence-reporting procedure.

·         If employees are unable to come to work because of childcare issues, this is treated as emergency time off for dependants – see Wetherspoon’s ‘time off for dependants policy’. This time off is unpaid. Alternatively, the time can be taken as holiday.

If adverse weather conditions persist, it may be possible to make arrangements for employees to work at alternative pubs. It may not be possible to redeploy all employees. In these circumstances, selection criteria will be applied to decide who can be redeployed. These criteria may include consideration of the job roles which can be accommodated and the availability of employees to match hours available. The criteria applied (which will always be legitimate, proportionate and non-discriminatory) will be shared with affected employees.

Salaried employees

In some circumstances, it may be possible for salaried employees to ‘make up time’. If agreed on, the time should be made up within six weeks of the original absence.