Do staff have to attend work when there is no electricity?

[Trish]

We have been notified that there will be no electricity at work on the 2nd August. Can the employer insist that staff attend, when there will be no lighting, no hot water, no phones, no computers etc. Please help

[factor-fiction]

I find it hard to believe they would make you come into work if there is no natural light and the place would be pitch black, so i expect they believe that conditions are acceptable. I'm not sure there is a legal requirement to provide HOT water but maybe they will make provision for access to hot water nearby. It isn't illegal to make you work without a phone and computer.
Havs anyone asked the employer what the purpose of their attendance is and exactly what facilities will be available?

[Trish]

Hello factor30, there would be some natural light as the power is off from 9am - 5pm. There would be no hot/warm water and no clean cold water as the ultra violet filters would be off. So no drinking facilities and no hand washing facility. No one has asked the employer and I don't think they have realised the extent of the disruption, we are out in the country so no nearby facilities either. I just wanted to check out our rights before I speak to employer.

[alexanderd]

what is the nature of the business? that could have some bearing on the answer

[Trish]

A charity office

[alexanderd]

I dont know what you do in the office, but with no electricity, phones or computer what exactly does your boss expect you to do as I imagine most of your work is phone and computer based so I dont see how you can be expected to work.

[askyourgran]

I would have thought that the 'elf and safety people would have something to say about that.

[Skyline D]

Sorry, I have to ask, what the hell is an "ultra violet filter" that needs electricity and without it tap water isn't fit for drinking?

Round here we wash our hands in what comes out of the tap directly, we drink it that way too!

I don't believe there's any requirement for the employer to provide any special drinking water anyway, though toilet facilities would be required (and presumably are still available). In fact none of the things you list that will be unavailable are actually legal rights for you to have at work. The employer can therefore insist you attend work I imagine though if there's really nothing you can do it would seem a little pointless. Can't you tidy the place up or something?

[Trish]

We are not on mains water, therefore without the filter our water is not suitable for drinking and I thought that it was a legal requirement to provide a facility for staff to get a drink and wash their hands!

[annie0000]

At the end of the day, as they are paying you, as long as they can satisfy health and safety, then they can insist that you attend work. It might be worth checking that the toilet facilities will actually work with no power. We found out when we had an outage recently, that the flushing capability of the toilets was linked to the power (a pump?) so no power, no flush. They either had to make other facilities available or send staff home.

[tamborine]

its only for 1 day.....cant you take in your own water & torch if needed. Toilet next door if necessary - do you want the job?

[oscardoodles]

What did our forefathers do in the war?..."oh dear the Germans have interrupted the power and water supplies....let's stay home and give up".....no they jolly well didn't,bring a bottle of drinking water,pop some Immodium and rise to the occasion.England expects and we are England,stand tall and remember you are among Gods chosen few..........
"If you are going through Hell....keep going"...Winston Churchill.

There is a lesson in there for all of us.......God bless you.

[tamborine]

take 1 bottled water & 1 empty to pee in :)

[factor-fiction]

Ask to take a day's holiday/unpaid leave and stay at home drinking water, using the phone/computer with the lights on and going to the toilet

[buildersmate]

Maybe use the day for some training then, instead of expecting to stay at home and be paid.

[carmalee]

I agree with the 'can't see a problem' line of thought - if you work for a charity that must mean you have a generous spirit or is it just about the money (presuming you are paid of course) - stop making a fuss and just get on with it - would you run out of your own house if you had a power failure?

[dasherman]

"Can the employer insist that staff attend"

Yes, they are paying your wages!

[Skyline D]

There's no legal requirement to provide drinking water for staff. Think about it. How would millions of people who work outdoors get such a thing?

Nor do they necessarily have to provide hand washing facilities though again, I don't see why you don't have that? You have running water even if it isn't mains water.

I find it hard to believe there's not something productive that could be done on a day with no phones ringing.

[twix123]

As recently as the seventies, during Ted Heath's three day week, we would still go to work every day although there would be no power for two days (by law bank's had to be open). Admittedly there were no personal computers in those days, but we still had to record everything and update the mainframe computer when power was restored! Usually there is still plenty of administrative work that can be done.

[karenmac60]

Any time we've had any kind of upheaval at work (no power, building or maintenance going on etc) which has required us to close to the public, we have the choice of being redeployed to another branch, or taking it out of our annual leave. No one gets paid for doing nothing.