Met Office flood warning as Arctic blast hits UK with freezing -3C and heavy rain

How cold must it be to be brought home?

There is no fixed temperature that employers have to send their employees home because it is too cold.

And since October 2012, there is no minimum temperature in English schools.

The School Facilities Regulations (UK) 2012 do not prescribe a safe temperature in the classroom, although the National Education Union advises a minimum of 18°C.

In the workplace, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the workplace has additional heating if the temperature becomes too cold.

Employers are recommended to include flexible or rotating working hours to help reduce the impact of cold weather – but they don’t have to.

Kate Palmer, head of consulting at the employment law firm Peninsula, told The Sun that employers are not obligated to pay employees if they don’t come to work because:

1. Bad weather
2. Public transport is not running
3. They miss hours because they are late

Additionally, employees do not have a legal right to pay in the event that they take an emergency leave with their children on an emergency leave.