Re: Going To Work In Bad Weather.

blackhole99 · ‎08-22-2013

No medical professional should risk their lives trying to get into work when the weather is that bad. The hospitals and nursing homes, fire stations, etc. are already staffed from the previous shift. I worked as a ward secretary years ago and the supervisor would not allow the nurses to call off when the weather was bad. One of the nurses was killed in a bad wreck on her way to work after this supervisor insisted she try to make it into work.

Allegheny · ‎03-19-2010

DH & I both worked in a hospital but not in direct patient care. Our supervisors were pretty lenient, excusing late arrivals due to bad weather. But we were required to report. Neither of us had a work at home option available at that time. We traveled 26 miles one way. Even leaving an hour early, we would sometimes be an hour late arriving.

LillyBee2 · ‎06-07-2019

I try and always go to work. We are expected to come to work unless the roads get so icy they close. If we don't show up we have to use vacation on leave without pay - not sick time, so most do try and show up cause the options aren't good for the paycheck. I with they would set up to work from home, it would at least be a good option.

bmorechick · ‎03-11-2010

I am a state government worker. Where I work, we have essential and non essential employees. Essential must go to work no matter what the weather. Non essential cannot be at work if state offices close due to weather and we do not use our own time for state called closure and we are still paid. Fortunately I am on the non essential list, so I can roll over! Needless to say, I always hope for a lot of snow but here in Southeastern MD, we rarely get snow unless the storm comes from the south.

CrazyKittyLvr2 · ‎05-11-2013

The corporate office for the chain of video stores was not in Pa. They had 3 stores in our PA county. All stores were open and you were expected to be there if you were on the schedule. Period.

I jokingly asked the manager of our store if they company would pay the fine if I got caught on the road during the state of emergency. The answer was no.

I usually went in to work during my law office years unless it was ice. Often times I was there only 3 or 4 hours and the boss, who lived close to the office, would send me home.

DD has a 35 mi. commute one way. It's a large law firm and they don't expect employees to risk their lives. If it's bad enough they close the whole office. In 25 years she only got stranded at work once. She and 4 other staff got hotel rooms a block from the office. Went to Boscovs near the office and bought what they needed for overnight. Went to dinner. When the firm found out they paid for their hotel rooms.

GCR18 · ‎07-03-2013

In today's world, we all have laptops and are told to use our own judgment. If the news says stay off the roads, I do and work from home. I would get paid whether I worked or not, but you are expected to have your computer if you can't get in.

libbyannE · ‎10-27-2010

@chrystaltree wrote:
Workers are expected use common sense and think of their own safety and the safety of others on the road. I work for a hospital, hospitals never close and hospitals don't have snow days. However, even though management cannot say it, there's a difference between those of us who do administrative work and those of us who are in patient care roles. My husband is an RN, his primrary job now is as a case manager but he has to go in regardless of the weather because if the hospital needs him to cover and care for patients, that's what he will do. They arrange sleep space at the hospital and there are several nearby hotels that are withing walking distance and his hospital (and mine to) reserve rooms. RN's and other patient care staff are expected to be at work even if it means arriving hours early. They also cannot leave until there is adequate coverage. Administrative people who can work from home do so when during inclement weather. Those who don't have access to the hospital's system at home, are expected to use common sense. If the governor advises that non-essential workers stay home, they are expected to stay home and the hospital pays them. Otherwise if they stay home, they have to take a vacation day. Having said that, it never fails that someone who isn't essential by any stretch of the imagination will drive into work or take public transportation into work and spend the next years boring everyone to death with her "it took me 4 hours to get to work" story. There are people who just think they are indispensible. I don't anyone who has ever been pressured to come to work during a snow emergency. I've never heard of an employer telling a customer service rep that you MUST come to work during the blizzared with hurricane force winds and 30 inches of snow.

Again, I was in journalism. As a reporter, I was covering the storm! We were expected to do our best to get there. If the forecast was terrible, I wd go to work hours early just to be there on time. Surprise winter storms were the worst! I didn’t like risking my life to get to work, but I did it. One time when I was trying to get home in a bad storm, my car slid off the road, and out of the swirling whiteness, someone came up and led me to a business that, thank goodness, was open across the road. It turned out to be a bar. Ah, warmth and golden light! I was drinking coffee with another stranded driver, intrigued by the range of people there, when a woman burst in and said, “My god, I never thought I would get here.” I started laughing. That person had actually gotten out in the storm in order to fight her way to the bar! So funny.

Nonametoday · ‎03-09-2010

@blackhole99 wrote:
No medical professional should risk their lives trying to get into work when the weather is that bad. The hospitals and nursing homes, fire stations, etc. are already staffed from the previous shift. I worked as a ward secretary years ago and the supervisor would not allow the nurses to call off when the weather was bad. One of the nurses was killed in a bad wreck on her way to work after this supervisor insisted she try to make it into work.

@blackhole99

Professionals do not do this work for themselves but for those they serve, so it is always a matter of taking risks when working in healthcare or any other industry serving your fellowman, like those who wash windows in high rises, those who fight fires in commercial buildings, policemen who are expected to take down criminals with weapons. Servicemen and women fight in inclement weather in battlefields far from home. They cannot call in due to bad weather. Just as the journalist had to do their jobs, others have jobs that must be done. Weather personnel are expected to report. Life is not without risks and in the chosen professions of many, the benefits to your fellowman outweigh the risks but to others the risks are not worth it. I chose to take risks.

deedledeedeedle · ‎05-27-2014

I, too, work in a hospital so must report to work, come he** or high water. I'm used to it now and just leave extra early. It will take double the commute time to get in and then double the commute time to get home usually. It really makes for a long day. A few years back we had two straight weeks of heavy snow overnight during the work week, so I was really dragging after those long commute days.

dee

Annabellethecat66 · ‎03-12-2010

I (and everyone ( really...everyone) I know either works for or indirectly works for the Government.

When I worked for the government we didn’t get off constantly like they o now.

A lot of people don’t know that the day before a holiday the government gets a 1/2 day off.

We are now entering the “ loose or use” era for government workers.

This area has been declared pretty much “recession proof” because so many people are employed in some way by the government.

Why am I mentioning this? Well...because if a little snow falls, they either don’t go or get off early.

It didn’t used to be like that. I remember when I finally quit it was because I’d driven home in a snowstorm. I finally told my boss ( a Lt Colonel) I was leaving.

I always think about people who don’t get paid if they don’t work.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s the private sector that keeps this country going.

Then there are the single mom’s who have to find a babysitter because the school is out and they must go to work.

My heart goes out to them. Again, unsung heroes who are raising future citizens and get very little credit for what they do.

I was a stay at home mom. I never minded helping out friends that were stuck in snowstorms and/or had to go to work when school was out.