Employment issues during flooding

Check your employment status

Your rights at work depend on your employment status and what your employment contract says. Your employment status might be employee, worker or self-employed.

Read our advice on contracts of employment for guidelines on working out your employment status, so you can establish your rights at work.

An adviser at your local Citizens Advice Bureau can help you to work out your employment status if you're not sure.

If you're laid off or put on short-time working

If your workplace is flooded, your employer can only lay you off or put you on short-time working if your contract specifically says they can. If it’s not mentioned in your contract, they can’t do it.

Read more about being laid off or put on short-time working.

If you're made redundant

If your workplace is flooded and closes down, you might be made redundant. This is a genuine reason for redundancy.

If you're an employee, certain redundancy rules apply. You should check if your redundancy is fair and if you can get redundancy pay.

If you're an employee and have been working for your employer for at least 2 years by the time you leave, your employer should see if they can offer you a different job. They should look for other jobs in any other places they work in or other companies they own.

You can spend 4 weeks trying out any new job you're offered before deciding if you'd rather take your redundancy pay.

If your employer offers you a job in another location but you don't want to work there, check your options if your employer offers you another job.

Read about preparing for after redundancy for information on financial help and how to make sure you get all the money you're entitled to.

Your rights to take time off work

If you're an employee, you have the right to take time off for family emergencies, like organising care for a dependant whose home has been flooded.

There's more information about time off for dependants on GOV.UK.

Sickness absence for stress or depression

Flooding of your home is a very stressful and upsetting experience. You might need to take time off work because of stress or other mental health issues.

You should refer to your work's sickness absence policy to understand your rights and responsibilities.

You might need to be signed off work by your GP if you're off work for a certain time period, usually more than 7 days.

You should check if you're entitled to statutory sick pay and how to get sick pay.