Minister urges companies not to dock wages of snowbound staff
WORKERS who were forced to stay at home in the heavy snow last week should not be unfairly docked pay, a Government minister has suggested.
Kit Malthouse, a Work and Pensions minister, urged bosses to “look kindly” on those who had to miss meetings or appointments because of the heavy snow caused by the storm known as the “Beast from the East”.
The minister’s intervention came as thousands of workers return to work this morning now the heavy snow which brought the country to a standstill last week has begun to melt.
Mr Malthouse spoke out after it emerged that some employers in Scotland – where motorists were told not to travel because of the weather – had threatened missing staff with disciplinary action or lost pay. He told The Daily Telegraph last night: “I’m quite sure that employers will look kindly on those who were snowed in and I know the hard working British workforce will want to make up the time too.”
Humza Yousaf, the Scottish Transport Minister, said he had been contacted by people who were facing disciplinary action or potential docking of wages. He told the BBC that was not acceptable and he would look at the legal position.
Separately more than 2,000 people could be killed by the cold weather this winter, a charity warned, in an analysis of Office for National Statistics figures. At least ten deaths have so far been attributed to the freezing weather, but the true death toll is likely to take longer to emerge due to the increase in strokes and heart attacks linked to the cold snap.
National Energy Action, a voluntary organisation, told The Telegraph that it was expecting to see a “huge increase” in excess winter deaths when this year’s statistics are released.
Peter Smith, the charity’s director of policy, said the weather would likely see 100 people per day dying in cold homes this winter, compared to an average of 80 people per day over the past five years. The analysis is based on ONS data from previous years and a comparable period of cold weather in the winter of 2010/11. Respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses are exacerbated by cold conditions, especially among the elderly.
Indoor temperatures of less than 12C are likely to cause health risks, Mr Smith said. Mr Smith also suggested that the Government had been too slow in warning the public of potential health risks. “There’s a sense of frustration that Public Health England have been slow out of the blocks in terms of providing advice and guidance around this area,” he added.
Public Health England, the body responsible for issuing health warnings surrounding adverse weather, alerted the public for the first time on February 23. The health warning containing advice to look after elderly friends and relatives, and those with heart and lung conditions, came four days before heavy, widespread snow arrived.
Yesterday, Adam Scaife, the Meteorological Office’s chief long-range forecaster, revealed that he had warned ministers a month ago about incoming cold weather.
Last night around 20,000 properties were without water in the London and Thames Valley area after extreme weather hit the region, as Thames Water asked households to limit the amount they were using.