It’s warming up again this week! What if you think you’re too hot to go to work?
What are the maximum temperatures for working in the UK?
Surprisingly enough, there isn’t a maximum temperature in the UK that people can be required to work in. We do have a minimum which is 16 degrees Celsius or 13 degrees if you’re doing physical or manual work. But we don’t have a maximum! Perhaps because our weather has been so terrible for so many years, it hasn’t been an issue.
What are the legal obligations of firms when it comes to hot weather?
Even without a maximum working temperature, that doesn’t get employers out of any obligations. Employers have an obligation toward the health and safety of people who are working for them. So if it is so hot that you have
- people passing out at their desks
- have heatstroke
- are significantly dehydrated,
then the employer has probably failed in their duty of care. They should have been taking some steps to make sure that the workplace is more suitable.
The TUC suggested there should be a maximum temperature of 30 degrees. Should there be a maximum?
Other countries have maximum working temperatures. There’s no reason why parliament couldn’t legislate to bring that in. The difficulty we have in this country is we’re not set up for hot weather. Our houses are very insulated. We’re very good at keeping the warmth in. We are not very good at keeping things cold. Air conditioning is still a rarity. If we had a maximum working temperature for workplaces, those workplaces that can afford air conditioning, such as more modern offices where you have all the mod cons and you can throw money at that sort of thing. They’re going to be able to operate. The challenge is for the businesses that have a more restricted budget, they are probably going to find that they’d have to close. It’s how you level that playing field, whilst keeping employees safe as well.
Scenario – I’m working in a kitchen, washing pots. It’s really hot. I’m feeling pretty unwell.
What can I say? What can I require my employer to do to help me?
Hopefully, it should just be a very basic conversation with another person where you say “I’m really uncomfortable. Is there anything that we can do? Can we open a back door? Can we get a fan in here?”
Make sure that people have got lots of water or perhaps have is ice available. Those sorts of things. Cover the basics first. Then consider, do we have to be working in this particular area of the building? Is there somewhere else that we could be working that’s cooler? This scenario with pot washing would be very difficult, but this could help others. You could look at relaxing the dress code, allowing ties to be removed or letting people wear more loose clothing they may feel more comfortable in. It’s all about being creative about the options before we get to the stage of sending everybody home.
How do I ask my employer if I can come in wearing shorts and a T-shirt, without causing problems?
Ensure you are respectful about how you ask. Don’t turn up in a Hawaiian shirt and a miniskirt. Instead, say “It’s really warm in here, Can I wear something a bit looser? It’s going to really help”
If your employer says no, and it affects the health or wellbeing of someone at work, potentially that’s been a breach of the employee’s legal rights and they could take it further.
