Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Business continuityHolidays and holiday payLeave

Egypt: Employment rights for staff stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh

by Rob Moss 6 Nov 2015
by Rob Moss 6 Nov 2015 Mohamad Zaid / REX Shutterstock
Mohamad Zaid / REX Shutterstock

Employers are not obliged to pay staff unable to return to work due to the suspension of flights from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, according to legal experts.

More than 20,000 British citizens have been stranded in Egypt after the Government announced yesterday that all flights from Sharm have been suspended following indications that the Russian Metrojet crash in Sinai, which killed all 224 people on board, was caused by a bomb.

Stranded staff employment rights

Deal with an employee who has failed to return from annual leave

How to deal with employment issues caused by disruptions to public transport

Does an employer have to agree to an employee’s request to cancel a booked period of annual leave?

Good practice guide: Delay on return from annual leave

Prime minister David Cameron said it was “increasingly likely” that terrorist activity caused the crash, and that it would be “some time” before all tourists stranded at the Red Sea resort can be returned to the UK.

Stephen Simpson, employment law editor at XpertHR, said employers have a choice of whether to pay their staff. “As a general rule, employees who are absent from work are not automatically entitled to be paid,” he said.

“However, if employees are unable to get to work through no fault of their own, for example, because of a natural disaster or in this case a security threat, employers may wish to show some leniency, not least because of the potential harm to staff morale.”

Employers could request staff to attempt to work remotely, if their job allows it and they have access to the necessary equipment, but any expenses incurred, for example for international phone calls, should be met by the employer.

Simpson added that there was nothing to stop employers asking if employees would like to take additional annual leave, but added that, in the absence of a relevant agreement, there are specific notice requirements to make workers take leave on particular dates.

The disruption in Egypt, the impact of fog or other bad weather on airports, and the chaos caused by the volcanic ash from Iceland in 2010, all highlight the need for employers to have policies on transport disruption and broader disaster contingency plans, according to Simpson.

Rob Moss
Rob Moss

Rob Moss is a business journalist with more than 25 years' experience. He has been editor of Personnel Today since 2010. He joined the publication in 2006 as online editor of the award-winning website. He specialises in labour market economics, gender diversity and family-friendly working. He has hosted hundreds of webinar and podcasts, most recently on the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic. Before writing about HR and employment he ran news and feature desks on publications serving the global optical and eyewear market, the UK electrical industry, and energy markets in Asia and the Middle East.

previous post
How HR can support IT with information security
next post
Regulations confirm cap on public-sector exit pay

You may also like

Spain plans menstrual leave for painful periods

13 May 2022

Tesco to pioneer office space in local stores

13 May 2022

MP seeks legal protections for employees undergoing fertility...

9 May 2022

PwC staff to benefit from extended summer hours...

5 May 2022

Government urged to make extra bank holiday permanent

26 Apr 2022

Bank holidays: six things employers need to know

20 Apr 2022

Top 10 HR questions March 2022: is long...

1 Apr 2022

How hybrid working boosts recruitment but not retention

18 Mar 2022

Commuting by car fast becoming unaffordable

11 Mar 2022

Pimlico Plumbers holiday pay ruling: four steps for...

9 Mar 2022
  • Strathclyde Business School expands its Degree Apprenticeship offer in England PROMOTED | The University of Strathclyde is expanding its programmes...Read more
  • The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls PROMOTED | The Great Resignation continues unabated...Read more
  • Navigating the widening “Skills Confidence Gap” in 2022, and beyond PROMOTED | Cornerstone OnDemand conducted a global study...Read more
  • Apprenticeships are the solution to your recruitment problems PROMOTED | Apprenticeships have the pulling power...Read more
  • What it really means to be mentally fit PROMOTED | What is mental fitness...Read more
  • How music can help to ease anxiety at work PROMOTED | A lot has happened since March 2020, hasn’t it?...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • Maternity & Paternity
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+