GLEN ALLEN, Va. -- The dangerous road conditions caused some workers to stay home Monday, but several viewers contacted CBS 6, asking if you could be fired for not showing up to work if road conditions are treacherous.
When asked about employee's rights in this type of situation, a labor and employment attorney said the complete answer was complex, but the simple answer was "yes."
Virginia is an "at will" work state. That means employees have very little protection in cases like this, experts said.
Even though an employer can fire someone at will if they have not signed an employment contract, David Constine, labor and employment attorney at Troutman Sanders, said when inclement weather was involved the majority of companies would never do that because it was a bad business practice.
“The employer has the right to take adverse employment action, again as we discussed, 99% of employers are going to act responsibly and not take an action like that," Constine said.
He added firing practices like this would completely destroy employee morale and most employers have some sort of policy about inclement weather in their employment handbooks or code of conduct.
“Generally most employers will try to accommodate their employees in these types of circumstances,” Constine said. “Although it may happen in a rare occasion, I think it would be unlikely.”
Some businesses will only bring in essential employees or enough people to serve their customers. Most of the time, businesses factor in employee safety and weight that with customer service.
If a local official issues a travel ban, then companies can't force you to come in to work, however that rarely happens in Virginia.
The National Labor Relations Act does allow employees to take action against employers who fire them for not showing up during inclement weather;however, it would take a group of employees saying the firing was unfair, not just one employee.
