Employers should put health and safety at the forefront of any cold-weather planning, according to a leading HR expert.
With much of the country dealing with sub-zero temperatures, and more cold weather forecast for the days ahead, workers and businesses are likely to face repeated disruptions.
Caroline Reidy, managing director of The HR Suite, said remote working should be facilitated where possible in order to reduce risks.
But in cases where that is not possible, and workers are unable to travel, staff may need to take some form of leave.
"Ultimately it's down to the person to decide, from a health and safety point of view, whether they feel safe to drive or get public transport or walk," she said.
"We've got to have a bit of flexibility to facilitate them to make that decision because people will have different levels of confidence around that," she said.
"If the business is open, the person is expected to be at work - so they're going to have to take a day's holidays, or they're going to have to take unpaid leave," she added.
However Ms Reidy said that staff should that cannot attend the workplace due to weather should not be penalised as a result.
"We have to have flexibility and appreciate that people have to make the choice," she said. "Employers should be as reasonable as possible in that regard."
Meanwhile if the employer decides not to open the workplace, they still have an obligation to pay staff for the day of work that they would have otherwise done.
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"If the business is closed, the person is expected to be paid for the hours they would be rostered to ordinarily be working," Ms Reidy said.
"If they haven't got the supply of products, if they decide it's not safe for customers to be in and the business is closed and they instruct employees not to come in, they're going to have to pay their employees," she added.
For workplaces that remain open during cold-weather, employers are obliged to consider the health and safety of their staff through the day.
That includes maintaining a comfortable temperature for workers - even if that means higher energy bills.
"The Health, Safety and Welfare at Work Act says, depending on whether it's sedentary work or the type of work being done, it's [at least] 16 and 17.5 degrees," she said. "But that's fairly cold for most people - so most people will want to be nudging the dial up to 19 degrees as a minimum."
For outdoor workers, however, there is no legal requirement around minimum temperatures.
Instead, employers and employees should be guided by health and safety considerations.
"That's where we have to have empathy," Ms Reidy said. "From a health and safety point of view there have to be risk-assessments to make sure it is still safe to work.
"If there's ice or things that are going to cause an issue, people have to make a decision based on that," she concluded.
