The headlines are full of the news of travel chaos in the airline industry, stories of long delays and cancelled flights are numerous.
Of course, this will have implications for you and your employees if they are caught up in it through no fault of their own and get stranded abroad. It has been reported, in HR publication People Management, that according to aviation data firm Cirium, numerous airlines, WizzAir, British Airways, Lufthansa and EasyJet amongst them, cancelled at least 225 departures from UK airports between Monday and Friday last week. The questions you will need to address:
Q Should I be paying my stranded employees?
Not showing up for work means that the employee has no entitlement to be paid. The fact that this may be “for circumstances beyond their control” is not necessarily a good enough excuse. However, we would advise caution on a couple of fronts;
- There is a recruitment crisis throughout the UK at the moment and retaining your experienced team members is probably key to your ongoing business success, so a little bit of flexibility might be a good idea. Whether that amounts to paying full pay is another matter but maybe the employee being able to extend their holiday or make up that time over the next couple of months might be really appreciated and build loyalty. Some employees may be able to work from anywhere and provided they have the technology to so securely then that may be another option.
- Don’t make automatic decisions not to pay. We would strongly suggest that you would undertake an investigation first and then if appropriate move to a disciplinary if you think that appropriate; if you’re considering this, we suggest you call us first to discuss.
Q How can we manage the work without that employee?
Most employees who find themselves in this situation will feel frustration and anxious that they are letting you down; over and above the additional financial pressures to them of not getting home as expected. We’d suggest trying to reassure them that you understand and that they’re not “in trouble”. This may be a great opportunity to build extra goodwill.
Try to identify ways that they can help from where they are. Maybe some handover notes or instructions to colleagues on anything that’s pending or a conference call to discuss any issues. Keep them in the loop with what’s going on back in the work if that’s appropriate, although maybe not if they have opted to extend their holiday.
Q Could/should I be taking disciplinary action?
Possibly. If the employee not attending causes significant disruption, you might be asking why the employee put themselves at risk of not making it back in time – should they have planned a clear day or two before they were due to return to work? Even if they did of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll make it back if the airlines don’t have flights available. Don’t do anything until you have investigated though. The outcome for the employee could be very serious and the affect on morale, both of the affected employee and their colleagues, could be significant.
If the employee was found to have gone against advice regarding foreign travel at a crucial time for your business, then you might wish to make this a more formal matter, again talk to us first.
Our Support and Advice
We are always happy to debate the pros/cons, dos/don’ts with you so please do talk to us if we can help in any way, we are here to support you.
Please note, this briefing is accurate at the time of writing, it is not intended to replace advice so please do call us if you have any queries.
