Any local businesses thinking of firing employees who didn’t report to work Wednesday morning might want to think again.
Gary Johnson, a local attorney, said anyone who loses his job for refusing to drive during a Level 1 snow emergency might have a valid legal claim for wrongful termination.
“Under Indiana law, an employee has the right to refuse to do an illegal act, even if directed to do so by the employer,” he said.
Johnson, chairman of Beckman Lawson’s labor and employment group, isn’t sure whether the court would extend the same logic for a case based on an employee following a local emergency declaration. But it’s possible.
Employers have the upper hand when it comes to how to count that absence, however.
As long as the company has a policy that it applies consistently to all workers, “the law wouldn’t have anything to do with that,” Johnson said.
For example, workers might be told they have to take a vacation day if they want to be paid for the absence, he said. Because employers grant vacation days, they are allowed to set rules for their use.
It’s also legal not to offer the option and simply to not pay workers for days missed, he said.
Beckman Lawson was closed Wednesday because of the morning Level 1 snow emergency in Allen County. The Fort Wayne firm’s policy calls for staff to be paid for the first eight hours of a Level 1 snow emergency.
If the Level 1 status were to last a second day, employees would have the option of using vacation time rather than be unpaid, Johnson said.
Allen County Commissioner Nelson Peters said the county adopted a policy in 2007 requiring employees to use personal or vacation time if they wanted to get paid for missing a day – even if the county shut down because of weather.
While some employees expressed displeasure because it was not their choice to miss work, he said the county can’t simply eat the approximately $187,000 in daily payroll.
Peters said employees also have the option of simply not being paid for the day.
State government follows the same policy. City officials couldn’t be reached Wednesday.
