The dates of the scheduled industrial action on a National and local basis can be found here https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/industrialaction.aspx

1. Do businesses have to pay employees for working hours missed because of transport disruption?

In principle, an employer would be within its rights to refuse to pay an employee who misses work because of transport disruption.

This is because an employee who is not working during their contractual hours is not fulfilling their contract of employment, and so they do not have to be paid. This is the case even if the employee’s lateness or non-attendance is out of their control, for example because of transport disruption.

You can try and arrange for staff to work from home if this is practicable. If you do not want this to lead to further requests to work from home then you should make it clear that it is only for these occasions. However, if it is not possible to work from home,  to keep up staff morale at these difficult times you may consider that it is good practice to pay, even if employment law is on your side in this case.

2. What if there is disruption on a day when the employee who works on a hybrid basis is normally expected to attend work?

You should build sufficient flexibility into your hybrid working model to allow the employee and their line manager to agree, to work remotely on a particular day on which they would normally be expected to attend work.

Where an employee is simply unable to get to work or would face severe delays and they are set up for remote working, the most sensible solution will be for the employee to work from home that day.

It may be that the employee agrees as a one-off to attend work on a later day on which they would normally be working remotely.

Employers should always remember that showing a degree of flexibility during periods of transport disruption can benefit staff morale and their reputation as a good employer may benefit in the long run.

3. Can our employees take periods when they cannot get to work because of transport disruption as annual leave?

Where an employee is unable to get to work because of disruption to transport, taking the time as paid annual leave may be a good option.

There is nothing to stop an employer from asking if the employee would like to take extra holiday if they are unable to get to work in this scenario. Employers will probably find that many employees would prefer to take paid holiday rather than lose out on pay.

However, there may be circumstances in which this is not possible. For example, this could be the case where the employee has already used up all their annual leave for that year.

As an alternative, the employer could give the employee the time off as additional unpaid leave, or ask them to make up the time later, for example by swapping shifts with someone else.

4. What if transport issues disrupt an employee’s childcare arrangements?

Employees have the statutory right to a reasonable period of unpaid time off to care for dependants.  

The right applies where an employee needs to take time off work because of unexpected disruption to the care arrangements for a dependant.

The right to time off for dependants would clearly apply to an employee where their nursery is closed because of staff shortages or their usual childminder is late or unavailable.

An employee who is taking time off for dependants must inform the employer as soon as is reasonably practicable of the reason for their absence. The employee must also tell the employer for how long they expect to be absent.

The right to time off for dependants is designed to allow the employee to deal with an unexpected event and to make alternative arrangements. It is therefore likely to be reasonable for an employee to take one day’s absence to make these arrangements – the right is not designed to give employees time off to care for their child for an extended period.

5. Can I agree that employees make up the time on other days?

If an employee has been unable to work due to the transport disruption you may pay them as normal and agree with them to make up the time, spread over a period of time.  You should ensure that you have processes in place to monitor and record when the time is worked and inform the employee regularly of the amount of time they have done to make up for the time lost.

You should  not impose this on your staff but reach agreement with them and record it in writing.

Does your organisation need a policy on transport disruption?

A transport disruption policy can make your workforce aware of the rules that will apply if they have difficulty getting to work because of transport disruption caused by a natural disaster, severe weather, strikes, eco protests, terrorist attacks, and fuel supply issues.

If you would like to implement a transport disruption policy and would like some help and guidance or a free copy of the handbook policy please email ilock@qandalaw.co.uk.