No Work No Pay - can you do this?
It may be the weather; it may be unplanned absence, or it may simply be a lack of customers. Whatever the reason, employers often wish to be able to not pay staff for time when they aren't needed. But you cannot simply do this. To be able to deduct pay you need to comply with the Wages Protection Act and this means getting your Agreements and processes right.
It is normally easy to not pay someone when they have not turned up to work - but if they have sick leave owing generally you have to pay that. However, if they have run out of sick leave and request annual leave instead, you do not have to agree. Annual leave will have to be paid at some stage, but always it is at a time agreed by the employer. So someone taking excessive sick leave will find themselves with no pay.
Deducting time (and pay) because work is not available, however, requires specific agreement from the employee. Generally this will mean having a clause in your employment agreements that envisages this sort of situation and specifying that it is both reasonable and compensated for. Notice periods for advising of lost work time are also needed. If you don't have this clause and try and make deductions from standard pay, you will not only be in breach of the Wagers Protection Act but will also have given a cast iron Personal Grievance.
If you need help getting your Agreements properly worded give us a call.