Jacqueline McCluskey, of international law firm HBJ Gateley Wareing, has warned those employees stranded overseas due to the travel chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano that they have no legal right to be paid.
She said there is no obligation for employers to pay employees for days when they are not able to travel home and has advised employees to get in touch with employers as quickly as possible and let them know how and when they are planning to return to work.
She said: "Just because the employee is not able to come to work because of these extenuating circumstances, their absence has, strictly speaking, not been authorised and there is no entitlement to pay. However, my belief is that a good number of employers will pay staff as these are unusual events and they will have employee relations in mind."
A lot of organisations in the public sector have ‘inclement weather' policies, and it could be a reasonable stance to follow a similar approach, as happened during the recent cold weather
McCluskey added: "Under the Working Time Regulations both employees and employers must give each other notice of intention to take holidays. This has to be at least double the amount of the holiday itself and given the circumstances would be difficult to implement."
