The earthquakes of the past few days have brought a
number of issues, aside from the obvious, employees who work in the
worst affected area have been advised to remain home from work by Civil
Defence. However, some employers may be less than happy with this. The
article in Stuff.co.nz
states that, "At least one person claims to have refused a request from
their manager to travel into work in the quake-rattled CBD this
morning. The woman, who declined to be named, said her office was in a
known quake-prone building in the city but her manager told her that
customers came first."
The question, then arises, what are the expectations on employers and
employees in these circumstances? Speaking with a Wellington
Employment Lawyer has given clarity. "When Civil Defence gives advice or
a directive not to travel into a specific zone for Health and Safety
reasons, then it would certainly seem reasonable for employees working
in the affected area to comply. In saying this, they would need to
contact their employer to notify them that they will not be coming into
work and be prepared to take annual leave as a consequence. The
employee should not face any negative consequences in terms of
discipline as a result of following Civil Defence advice."
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