Does work have to pay me anyway?? its been closed because water is undrinkable??

Question

we were hit by the floods and had no drinkable water, the water is back on but i cant go back to work til its drinkable, where do i stand legally with regards to wages and being paid during this time??

Answer 1

No, Your employer does not have to pay you.

But you should be eligible to draw unemployment while you are not working.

Business's send people home all the time, if there is no work, to cut down on payroll.

They are only obligated to pay you for hours worked.

It doesn't matter the reason you cannot work.

Answer 2

Check your contract (terms and conditions of employment)
In most cases if you are a full time employee on the books you will probably get paid, but if your contract has you as self employed or a sub contractor or a casula worker you will find any entitlement restricted or zero. When you know contact the benefits office and ask for advice on making a claim for loss of earnings (this also can result in a tax rebate and payment of your NI contributions)

Answer 3

If you have an employment contract that specifies compensation then you are covered by that contract.

If you are not covered by any contract and are an 'hourly' worker then you will need to contact your State Department of Employment and file an Unemployment Insurance claim for the time you're off work. Same for salaried employees who have been told that they will be "laid off" for a time. Do it immediately since they usually will not allow you to claim any weeks you were off work before filing the claim. In Washington State you can wait until Friday and still claim the entire Sun to Sat week. This may be different in other states.

File for unemployment now & if your employer pays any compensation report that to Dept of Employment on your weekly benefits claim and the benefit check will be adjusted to reflect your earnings. You can also file for reduced hours if you're work schedule was cut back, but not eliminated entirely. In that case you'd report your earnings for the week and the benefit check will be adjusted to reflect actual earnings vs insured income.

Answer 4

From the day/time your company re-opened for business, you should have reported for work as usual.

Just because you could not drink the tap water is no excuse for remaining away from your place of employment. Your boss probably had already laid in a supply of bottled water, if he had any sense anyway.

You should contact your firm right away and see what the situation is now. I doubt you will be paid for the time of absense.

Not on my payroll anyway.

Answer 5

I'm sure this would be covered by your companies insurance. The down side is that You have to live.. get yourself down to your nearest Citizen Advice they will advise you of the benefits you can claim and how to get your pay from your employer once you return to work...
Please remember any benefits paid to you will have to be paid back when your receive your back payments from work..

Answer 6

Look at it this way! The business hasn't made any money whilst being closed therefore if they pay you, chances are it could actually drive them out of business permanantly. You want to keep your job, or not??? They may well get Government help anyhow which could contribute towards your pay.

Lets face it, these are not normal conditions.

Answer 7

If you are on the permanent payroll (including part-time) then the business must pay you but the costs will be claimable on their business interruption insurance (which surely they had).

If you are on a temporary basis then they probably won't.

You may be paid on a special (lower) rate if you were paid for piece or shift work.

Answer 8

Not necessarily.
However, if you are not being paid you are entitled to benefits.

Answer 9

Not your fault. Should get paid.