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Millions of Americans have to deal with severe weather to and from their workplace as well as during the course of doing their job.
Here are some things you may want to know to about your rights as an employee during severe weather both at work and on your commute.
We are not attorneys, and the information contained within this article is not legal advice and it is no substitute for professional legal advice, but rather an encouragement for you to seek out a personal injury attorney or Worker’s Compensation attorney if you have questions or concerns.
You might even find yourself inspired to look into personal injury attorney online classes and start a whole new career!
Severe weather adds another dimension of danger in the workplace. A variety of conditions could be considered severe weather, including excessive heat, cold temperatures, ice, snow, wind, rain, hail, tornadoes, and hurricanes.
Any employer must be aware of weather conditions and take reasonable steps to maintain a safe work environment for their employees. This also includes awareness on the part of the employer to determine when conditions are unsafe, if it is not suitable to go outside or too dangerous to travel.
If you are injured at work due to weather-related conditions, and you are unsure about your rights and protection, check with a workers compensation attorney to see if your injury is covered.
This actually could also pose a question for your employer that may be requiring you to come to work during snow or an ice storm. However, unless a governmental order bans travel, companies can still require their workers to report to work during such weather.
It is only when the government encourages employers to keep workers at home or imposes a state of emergency, that employers should think twice.
Still, even in states of emergency, the details may specify that necessary travel is permitted due to the nature of an employee’s work. For example, law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency service staff are almost always excluded from any type of travel ban.
An employer is generally not responsible for employees injured or killed during their commute to and from work, even if the employer required the worker to come into work during severe weather.
The only exception would be if the employer required the employee to violate an emergency travel ban.
At any rate, in such cases of injury or death during a commute to work, the facts are important in the liability would depend on what the employer required of the employee and the degree of known danger.
At the same time, workers’ compensation does not cover someone required to travel to work during a state of emergency. If the employer required the employee to come in, the employer could be subject to a personal injury lawsuit.
This situation would most likely occur when roads are closed during a state of emergency and, keep in mind, an employee traveling could also put themselves at risk for misdemeanor criminal penalties for traveling during the shutdown.
If an employer terminates an employee who does not report for work under such circumstances, it could set up the basis for a wrongful termination claim.
But keep in mind, states have a variety of laws in such situations in which a claim may not be viable in all states.
