A bit of tutelage on how to handle a day like today if you are a business or institution that needs to make a decision about whether to close or not. I offer this from an emergency management, business continuity and legal perspective.

If the roads that will be traveled on by a significant percentage of your employees and customers are deteriorating and have no hope of short term improvement (e.g., late open/start of two-four hours) cancel classes, close businesses and if it is safe, send folks home while the getting is good.

If local schools close and a significant percentage of your employees and customers now have children at home, close for the day. The rationale for this is two-fold: first, you do not want parents leaving children at home (if that is even an option) in this type of weather event to go to work in dangerous conditions wherein their ability to get to work and back home may be compromised; and, two, you do not want parents who are customers with children putting them in the car and traveling in dangerous conditions to your business wherein they may be stuck or injured in transit to or from.

If you are an employer that has a policy that indicates work absence has consequences (which would be most employers), you have created a framework that creates an incentive (indeed, almost a mandate) to travel in less than favorable conditions. Indeed, the loss of a paid day is in-and-of-itself enough incentive for most workers to trudge into work in conditions that are decidedly dangerous.

It is your responsibility as an employer to take prudent steps to protect your employees in this situation by either closing or allowing flexible options such as: working from home, only allowing those to come in who live in near proximity (sometimes even this may not prudent based on in-town road conditions), or scheduling an alternate make-up work day (i.e., Monday-Friday businesses, may allow a Saturday make-up). If you do not do something to address the inevitability that employees will travel in poor conditions against their safety interests to ensure their job is not comprised, you may open the door to liability.

If an employee is injured or killed on his or her way to work in dangerous travel conditions (that have already resulted in massive school and business closures) because they feared the absence would impact their job the question will then become one of the business’ culpability in creating the situation. Essentially the question in a negligence action will be, “Should the business have known that an employee afraid to lose their job would travel in dangerous conditions absent a statement from the employer to do otherwise?”

This situation is easily remedied by a written policy and well-communicated procedures for closure and limited operations. A little aforethought goes a long way on days like today and it gives the appearance that your business or institution cares first and foremost about the safety of your employees and customers – which of course you do.

As I write this the entire state is under a no travel advisory. Be smart and stay home folks – stay safe.  Life as we know it will continue tomorrow. 

Day two hundred and four of the new forty – obla di obla da

CC