Extreme Heat At Work: When Can Employees Refuse To Work?

In most jurisdictions, the answer depends on health and safety risk, rather than on temperature alone. In this fourth and final part of our extreme heat at work series, we examine when work stoppage may be lawful and why it matters for multinational employers managing heat risks across their workplaces.

Extreme heat continues to disrupt workplaces across Europe and beyond. As temperatures rise, employers increasingly face a critical question: can employees lawfully stop working because it is too hot?

In this four-part series, we have explored key employment law issues linked to extreme heat. We examined temperature limits in part one, practical employer measures in part two, and dress codes in part three. We now turn to the particularly thorny issue of whether employees can ‘down tools’ due to extreme heat.