HR consultancy firm HR Buddy said today that severe weather events can impact an employee's ability to report for work and an employer's ability to operate their business and to be able to provide work.
HR Buddy said the safety of employees should be paramount for employers.
"An employer's statutory duty to provide a safe place of work includes ensuring that employees are not required to undertake a hazardous journey to work," Damien McCarthy, the founder and CEO of HR Buddy, said.
"If public transport is not operating due to extreme weather conditions employers are exposed to the risk of claims by employees who suffer accidents on their journey to work," he said.
Where an employee has the capacity to carry out their work from home for the duration of the disruption, this could be considered and if appropriate can be agreed with his or her line manager, he added.
Mr McCarthy said that if the decision to remain open during an extreme weather event is made, employee safety will need to be prioritised.
"The risk of personal injury claims increases significantly during extreme weather events. A risk assessment should be carried out and appropriate measures such as gritting walkways and clearing snow will need to be undertaken," he added.
He also noted that as extreme weather events occur relatively infrequently in Ireland developing an Extreme Weather Policy tends to be at the lower end of an organisation's list of priorities.
"It is nevertheless good practice to develop such a policy document which should clarify the measures the organisation will take during extreme weather events to include issues of pay, public transport closures, remote work and attendance," he added.
