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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Milo Boyd

Your rights if getting stuck abroad or at the airport means you have to miss work

Flight delays and cancellations have seen Brits ending up stuck abroad for extra days this half term - meaning families are missing days at work and school.

This happened to Naomi Thomas, 33, and Danny Massey, 39, who had been on their first holiday in five years last week only for it to end with them stuck in Paris the day after their easyJet flight home from Faro was due to depart.

The teacher couple and their two kids ended up missing school because of the delays.

While their headteachers were understanding and grateful they were kept in the loop, bosses can come down hard on absent employees if they want.

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Angela Carter, legal director for England and Wales at WorkNest, explains how workers on short-term or non-fixed-hour contracts are particularly disadvantaged in these situations.

"If an employee is stuck in a different location due to flight delays or cancellations and they are unable to work they won’t be entitled to be paid unless for some reason their employment contracts contain provision to be paid if they are unable to attend work due to circumstances outside their control, but this is very rare," she said.

"If the employer and employee agree, and assuming the employee has not exhausted their holiday entitlement for the year, this could be taken as holiday in order to be paid. If the employee didn’t have any holiday to take or didn’t want to use holiday to cover the absence, then it would be treated as unpaid leave.

UK airports have been overloaded in recent weeks (ZENPIX LTD)

"If an employee is able to – and has the equipment to – work productively remotely then this is something which could be agreed with the employer and they would then be paid as normal.

"However, it would be for the employer to take a view as to whether the employee is properly equipped and able to work remotely from abroad."

Parents may also find themselves in a bit of bother if their kids miss school, whether or not its their fault.

While different councils have different rules - and headteachers may well be understanding - parents can be slapped with a £60 fine each for non-sickness related absences, such as being on holiday during term-time.

That fine increases to £120 if it isn't paid swiftly.

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