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Eyjafjallajökull Strikes Again

Jon Friend

Employees up in Ashes

You may have seen that  the Icelandic volcano, whose name people are still struggling to pronounce has caused more yet flights to be grounded today.  

Before we get into the employment issues this is causing, it is important to emphasise that it is not too late to master saying its name properly. A hint from The BBC Pronunciation Unit (http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/delivery/pron.shtml), with a database of over 200,000 hard to pronounce words, names and phrases, that are deemed at risk of rendering newsreaders and presenters tongue-tied, says that it should be pronounced “AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl-uh”, which should help.

And since the volcano is forecast to erupt from time to time over the next two years, it is not too late to consider how to navigate around the employment law issues that the ash will continue to pose such as:

1) Staff stranded abroad.

The starting point is that employees are not entitled to be paid for time that they are absent from work because of travel problems (whether or not they are out of their control).  However, this may not reflect the contractual terms for specific employees and so it is important to consider the specific circumstances.

When approaching this issue, it is important to remember two points; (1) that non-payment of wages in these circumstances counts as a “deduction” (and it is unlawful for employers to make any “deduction” unless each worker has explicitly agreed in writing) and (2) if an employee says that they are working while absent abroad, any refusal to pay their usual wages (and additional reasonable expenses) may entitle them to resign and claim that they have been constructively unfairly dismissed.

To minimise any potential legal liability, we suggest that communication is king and that employers should come to a practical agreement with each stranded employee (by e-mail or telephone), such as that any time stranded abroad will be (1) taken as paid holiday, (2) made up on returning home  or (3) accounted for in time sheets to receive wages as normal.
It is important to note that where employees are being required to take holiday at specific times, specific notice requirements will apply under the working time regulations.

2) Staff who are affected personally but are not abroad.

Some staff may be affected even though they are not abroad. For example, they may be required to work overtime to cover for a colleague who is stranded abroad or need to care for a child or dependant because a teacher or carer has been stranded abroad. 
 
Our suggestion for employers dealing with this situation is that where employees are being asked to work overtime to cover for their colleagues, they should consider whether there are any specific requirements to take into account under the working time regulations or in individual contracts.  We also suggest that special care is taken where employees cannot come into work because of child or dependant responsibilities, because they will be entitled to a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with such emergencies.

Finally, we have a suggestion for anyone who just wants to stand their ground when faced with pub a quiz question about the volcanic tongue twister called Eyjafjallajökull , it may be helpful  to know that in Icelandic, “Eyja” means island, “fjall” or “fyjoll” means mountain, and “jökull” means glacier; so the volcano is actually named after the glacier above it. It is the islandmountainglacier volcano. 

For a free consultation on the above or any employment matter, please contact one of our solicitors on (Switchboard) 08458 678 978 or via email to office@acumenbusinesslaw.co.uk

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