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Management refused to allow us to leave early in flooding even though it was obvious we might be cut off...
While at work during the onset of the recent floods the management refused us permission to leave work although it was apparent we were being cut off. The higher management had gone home at noon while we had to work until 4.45. The instruction was given by telephone that we were not to leave the premises until the end of shift although the risk of our route home being closed as the day went on was obvious. It took me 5 hours to complete a journey that usually takes 20 minutes and my car sustained substantial damage, as was the case with many other employees. Was the company within its rights to hold us at work with the risk to the safety of their employees so obvious?
Your e-mail does not explain what it is that you do. The nature of our job may be such that it was not practical to let you leave early.
The ordinary position is that employers cannot be responsible for matters that happen outside the work place and out of work time. If forcing you to work until the end of the shift put your safety in danger, and the employers should have been aware that this was the case, the employers are in possible breach of their duty of care towards you. This duty of care is unlikely to extend to avoiding a delayed journey home.
The fact that the management absented themselves at lunchtime but expected you to continue to continue to work is an example of extremely poor management. This is unlikely to lead to you being able to bring a successful damages claim, however you could consider raising an official grievance at work about the episode in the hope of embarrassing your employers to make an offer towards the repair of your car.
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