As much of the UK is covered in another layer of icing, the excuses for not making it to work keep rolling in.
As much of the UK is covered in another layer of icing, the excuses for not making it to work keep rolling in.
While a few will be genuinely unable to leave the house, like the elderly couple whose front door was frozen solid last week, far more are snow flakes, eager to seize the chance of a day off. Nearly a quarter of UK workers secretly look forward to heavy snowfall as an excuse to avoid going to work, according to a survey of 591 adults by video conferencing company Tandberg. And that’s just the ones who admit it.
No-one enjoys slithering around on the ice, driving in a blizzard, or cramming themselves on to one of a reduced number of commuter trains or buses. But the economic consequences of shut schools and skiving workers will be grim, especially considering UK plc can hardly afford to chill out at the moment.
Having said all that, where staff can work from home, this option should be given serious consideration. After all, you hardly want to be paying people to stand around on icy train platforms waiting in vain for the next announcement, or sit in weather-induced traffic jams. Given the disruption to travel at the moment, the time and energy staff save by avoiding those lengthy journeys into the office should more than compensate for the few who sneak away from their laptops to watch daytime TV.
