Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Business performanceLatest NewsEconomics, government & businessHR practiceFlexible working

Volcano update: How HR departments are coping

by Personnel Today 20 Apr 2010
by Personnel Today 20 Apr 2010






Volcano update: Seven things employers should be doing


HR departments have fallen back on tried and tested flexible working systems to cope with the disruption the volcanic eruption in Iceland has caused their employees.

An estimated 150,000 Brits are stuck abroad because UK airspace has been shut, leaving many employers with staffing difficulties.

Westminster City Council has employees stranded in places such as Mexico, Mauritius, Thailand and Belgium, according to HR director Graham White.

“Our current policy is to work with staff to find the most appropriate solutions and this would include options such as taking annual leave, using flexible leave, taking unpaid leave,” he told Personnel Today. “However, these options are not designed for lengthy absences and as such we will monitor the length of the crisis and consider other options where our actions may create hardship.”










Coping with the crisis



The first thing that needs to happen is a full assessment of how you are being affected. Are key staff absent, for example?

Once that is understood, look into what you can reorganise to counter some of those negative effects of this crisis. Can you video conference and flexibly work rather than meet face-to-face, or what else can you do? An example is the airports themselves now undertaking runway maintenance while the opportunity is there.

It’s crucial that employers have contingency plans in place for staff absence or a crisis like this. The swine flu threat from last year has helped more firms realise they have to prepare for the unexpected.

Most firms can and do now work flexibly. However, a manufacturer trying to export and get cargo across the globe will need to have other contingencies in place.

Source: British Chambers of Commerce


Technology is allowing many of the stranded staff to stay in contact with the council, participate in meetings and respond to urgent requests for information, White said.

“Our systems were very robustly tested during the very severe weather in the early part of this year and stood the test of large scale off site working,” he said.

“The IT team have done a marvellous job in ensuring our platform is ready for such incidents but we are not complacent and we will use the review of this event to further test our systems.”

At Cambridgeshire County Council, staffing numbers have been less badly affected, but chief executive Mark Lloyd is stuck in the United States, forcing him to work remotely.

“Thankfully I travelled to the USA with my laptop so I’m having a productive morning ‘working from hotel-home’,” he said yesterday. “And using Skype on my personal phone allows me, through wi-fi, to make very cheap/free calls. And by setting up on Skype a telephone number with a 01223 code, I can be called at local rate. I find all this wizardry amazing – Mrs L just yawns!”

Stephen Moir, corporate director of people, policy and law at the council, said employees who are unable to get back to work are required to use annual leave for the additional days missed or unpaid leave if they don’t have holiday to take.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Alternatively, in agreement with their line manager, employees can also make use of flexible working arrangements available such as remote working, time off in lieu or flexi time, he added.

On HR Space, members are discussing whether employers can force absent employees to take unpaid leave.

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Teachers and students protest against funding cuts
next post
P&MM launches identity protection programme for the employee benefits market

You may also like

UK net migration slashed by half in one...

22 May 2025

The Law Society: Navigating the new world of...

22 May 2025

How neuroscience can unlock employee recognition

22 May 2025

HSBC employees warned of office attendance link to...

22 May 2025

Workplace stress: Why it’s time to rebrand resilience

22 May 2025

Restaurant tips should be included in holiday pay

21 May 2025

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Redefining leadership: From competence to inclusion

21 May 2025

Pay awards in real terms could fall for...

21 May 2025

Ryanair demands flight attendants pay back salary increase

21 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...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 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • 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
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+