MORE than half of the country's employers do not pay their staff when bad weather prevents them from coming into work, according to a new survey.

Businesses can be adversly affected by snow and other poor weather conditions due to loss of staff hours and productivity.

According to Croner, a provider of employment advice and support, 52 per cent of employers think poor weather is insufficient grounds for additional paid leave.

But Croner believes firms should investigate ways of helping their staff continue their work if they are unable to get into the office.

Richard Smith, employment law expert at Croner, said: "Although not a legal requirement, having an 'adverse weather policy' could help in certain situations to avoid conflict or confusion should an employee be late for work or fail to turn up at all.

"Before cutting pay, employers could consider options such as allowing employees to take time as annual leave, providing home-working solutions or allowing them to make up the time lost.

"With the prevalence of laptops and email, it's now much easier to enable employees to continue to perform their duties without having to be on site.

"They could also consider the benefits of paid leave as a goodwill gesture to employees, which can help boost morale, motivation and loyalty."

Mr Smith thinks a common sense approach to weather-related absence needs to adopted .

He added: "Although it may be inconvenient when staff can't get to work, employers should not risk putting employees in danger by encouraging them to drive in unsafe conditions in an attempt to get to work."