Online Update - Essential Information for Employers

In the News

A winter of discontent ...

Industrial action has come under the spotlight recently, with a spate of Tube strikes causing travel delays in London. Some trade unions have also hinted at further strikes in the public sector against spending cuts. This raises the question of how employers can deal with the flow on effects such as travel delays and disruptions to services?

As a general rule (and subject to any contractual provision which says otherwise), employees are not entitled to be paid when they are not working. So, for example, employees who are unable to get to work because of strikes affecting public transport are not entitled to be paid. However, it may be preferable from an employee relations point of view to allow some flexibility (for example, allowing employees to work from home or take the day as holiday), particularly where the delays affect many people and are for a relatively short period.