Businesses developing storm day policies

Public institutions like school boards shut down Wednesday as freezing rain pelted Hamilton, but some businesses are creating their own storm day policies.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which represents 110,000 small- and medium-sized businesses, penned a post to help its members create a bad weather policy.

“What we are doing here is trying to add some predictability in what could be unpredictable weather,” said Ontario vicepresident Plamen Petkov.

Important items to consider include how closure decisions will be communicated to employees and who makes the final call on them, he said.

Some employees have the option to work remotely on days like Wednesday. As a result, the impact of snow days on businesses is difficult to measure because while some would see lower sales, others like private snowplow operators would be busier than usual, said Petkov.

A 2010 study by global consulting firm IHS Global Insight showed the economic impact big snowstorms have on Ontario is approximately $473 million a day, with $205 million of that coming from direct losses, and $268 million stemming from spinoff effects. The hardest hit industries include gas stations, department stores and other retailers.

While businesses clearly suffer from closures, there are roughly 250 working days in a year, so a one-day shutdown represents a 0.4 per cent hit to productivity, said McMaster University business professor Marvin Ryder.

What’s more important to companies is the well-being of their employees, he said. “It starts with personal safety and security,” he said.