snow day with no pay? Advice please!

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02/12/2010 at 06:16
Hi Girlies,

I'm hoping one of you wise ladies will have some advice for me on our position...

We've both been off work because of the snow since the weekend so 3 days each where we should have been at work. I'm 'working from home' as much as I possibly can however that isn't possible for OH. We live in central scotland commuter land with 10" of snow, right next to a train station so we dont have a car, the trains and buses are cancelled and its a 25 mile journey to work. Anyway, long story short, OH has now been told that he wont be paid for the time hes had off i'm soooo annoyed, everyone else I know is being paid (except the poor people who are self employed who I feel very sorry for as OH was in this position last year, in fact he moved to this new job to have a stable salary) where do we stand? Really can't afford to lose almost a weeks wage just before christmas....

Thank you xxx
02/12/2010 at 06:45
I'm afraid legally he doesn't have a right to be paid. It is unfair that some people (e.g. teachers) get full pay for snow days and the rest of us have to use a day of annual leave or lose a days pay but I suppose it's the way of the world. Have you tried calling your insurance company? They may provide some cover for loss of earnings to hel towards the mortgage payment. xx
02/12/2010 at 06:48
we rent so no mortgage cover but thanks anyway... xx
02/12/2010 at 06:54
That wouldn't be mortgage cover as such but general home insurance which you may have if you're renting a property (i.e. contents cover).

It's really frustrating and just what you don't need with a baby on the way!
02/12/2010 at 07:35
Sending sympathy, my hubby is self employed too and cant work, so we are feeling it too. We also rent, and moving in a week and a half so rather stressed! Lets just hope things settle down soon xxx
02/12/2010 at 07:39
Coco - read this article about your rights. Your hubby's work may not be allowed to dock his pay but depends on the circumstances:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11886185

I am lucky in that I can work from home but my hubby has to make any lost time up so he will have to go in to work at the weekend.

http://global.thebump.com/tickers/tta88ac.aspx

02/12/2010 at 08:11
Hi hun

Depends on the company policy Im afraid. I work in retail and the 'Adverse Weather Policy' states that you must either go to your nearest store - take it as unpaid or use holiday.
Luckily I work in staffing and recruitment so I am working from home today. I live in Derby but work in Derbyshire and the snow is really bad up there, plus the roads are a lot more difficult to drive on up there.

Hope you get something sorted. H x
02/12/2010 at 08:52
I'm a teacher and I don't get paid for snow days. I think its at the discretion of the organisation.

http://global.thebump.com/tickers/tta8893.aspx

02/12/2010 at 09:08
I have to use annual leave, could your hubby do this! It is annoying and you dont wanna waste your leave but better than not getting paid, I'm gonna try and get one day as carers as my little boys nursery is closed xx
02/12/2010 at 09:15
their annual leave finishes at the end of Dec so he only has a few hours left to take ah well... looks like we'll just need to get on with it, gutted though, christmas will need to be minimsed...

Co x
02/12/2010 at 10:15
My oh doesn't get paid either, we have a bmw car so no point in even attempting to drive it in the snow, even if we could get it out the estate, was a nightmare earlier on in the year, so he's been walking 4 miles to the next town to get his train into the city, luckily sometimes people stop and he gets a lift part of the way but still awful for him .....poor soul. I've been in the house all week and get full pay. x
02/12/2010 at 11:19
watched on tv this morning some hr bloke saying that companies don't 'have' to pay ouf for this, but if I were your hubby I would defo considering speaking to his boss, how long has he worked their? does he have good record/relationship??

our compsny policy is that we don't pay for first 3 days of someone being of sick, but it defo has room for discretion as I plead on behalf of my team if they are off sick and more often than not they get paid and I had one sick day myself and my boss agreed to pay no problem, so defo ask- and if you do it face to face, less chance they say no ;o))))) good luck
02/12/2010 at 14:07
I work for a firm of solicitirs and i had to make time up or take it holiday last year xx
03/12/2010 at 20:01
im a teacher too and we dont get paid for snow days unless the school is closed due to the safety of the children (so if we cant get to school but it is open we dont get paid) plus we dont have any annual leave to take anyway

http://lmtf.lilypie.com/jZAsp1.png

05/12/2010 at 03:51
Could he maybe ask about using annual leave from next year? Or slowly make the time back up by working an extra half an hour a day or something? Not ideal but may at least help things financially?

I really can't believe how bad things have got in the UK because of the snow, I live in Norway, we have snow and have had temps as low as -22 the last few weeks but the trains and buses are running as normal and thanks to the legal requirement for us to have winter tyres on our cars we all drive around as normal - even people in BMWs!
I really hope the transport minister pulls his finger out and gets things organised so you guys don't have to go through the same thing next year. Not a good time of year to be worrying about not being paid! xx
05/12/2010 at 05:20
no advice im afraid...but what difference would it make having a bmw to any other car?! random.
05/12/2010 at 06:38
Vintage rose - BMWs are rear wheel drive so they tend to skid and slide all over the place in wet/icy/snowy conditions!
05/12/2010 at 07:34
i am a teacher too and when they anounce school is losed to childem, staff are still in working. we dont just babysit your kids you know! if staff dont get in they dont get paid. and can you imagine what would happen if the school said, right the week of work missed is going in july at the start of the holidays.. if parents have holidays already booked for that time tough. you'll get fined for taking child out of school! and what about staff who have already got their hols booked? i often think it would be a good idea if 1 week of school leave could be taken whenever the teacher wants and cover supervisors cover the time. but obviously that wont work in practice.


i also have a bmw and they are beyond cr@ in the snow and ice. in germany they all have winter tyres so they can drive. i cant get my car of my drive in snow / ice conditions. snow tyres cost nearly ??????2k, so i would be working one month just to get to work for 5 days. i am seriously thinking it would be better to buy a cheap winter car instead!


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05/12/2010 at 09:43
Well the teachers on here must get a worse deal than the ones I'm friends with or related to! All the ones I know have had the schools closed for snow days and have had full pay! That's even more unfair when there's discrepancies within the same profession! I remember last winter when my mum and sister (both teachers) were telling me off for driving through treacherous conditions to get to work and they couldn't understand that if I didn't I'd lose a days pay or a days holiday, it was just an alien concept to them as they were at home on full pay!
05/12/2010 at 10:46
Snow tyres do not cost that much in the UK, we bought some before we left the UK to move over to Norway and we paid about ??????60 a tyre and that was for a Volvo T5. We just priced some up for my brothers Audi TT and they were only going to be ??????50 a tyre.
As for getting out of the drive if you clear off the snow and put plenty of salt down there shouldn't be a prob. We have a big sloping drive and just have to keep on top of it with the shovel and salt and its fine. xx
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