Statutory Emergency Pay (SEP)

I like many others spent my day picking my way around road closures caused by floods. All weekend the police have been saying only travel if you have to and today they even said Oxford is now closed, do not come to Oxford.

For those of you not familiar with Oxford it is where several rivers including the Thames meet. Most of the south and west of Oxford is on a level with the river. There is extensive flooding throughout these districts closing three of the six main roads into Oxford. Of the remaining three one has roadworks and is already overloaded and the other two just serve the north of the city centre. Coupled with the one way system and the trains not running Oxford has pretty much ground to a standstill.

Anyway this got me to thinking who really pays attention to what the police or government say. The vast majority of people go about their daily lives as normal, especially those going to work. This of course causes more work for the emergency services as people get stuck or cause traffic congestion.

Of course to stop all this you have to deal with the need to go to work. Most people will not get paid or need to take a days annual leave if they don't turn up. Obviously no one can afford this so everyone struggles into work.

So just as we have Statutory paternity, sick and maternity pay, we should introduce the following legislation which would include statutory emergency pay.

The Basic idea

When the police or government decide it is no longer safe to travel in an area, it is now no longer safe to travel. All non essential businesses are now closed by order of the government, workers are under no obligation to travel. To compensate for loss of earnings companies will pay statutory emergency pay which can be claimed back from the government. Employees will have the choice of taking the lower earning of SEP or using annual leave entitlement.

Of course enlightened companies will in a similar vein to some maternity schemes enhance statutory emergency pay. They may top it up to normal salary or allow spread deductions over 12 months or allow employees to earn back the extra money in enhanced overtime to make up for lost company time.

Most emergencies would be over in a few days. To date this year I would have claimed two days, one for snow and one for floods. In my own mind I questioned why I was travelling at the time as it may not have been safe to do so.

Although it seems it will cost the government money think of the savings from not having to rescue people who have got themselves needlessly in trouble. It will also free up the emergency services to deal with the actual emergency and get there quicker not just the traffic chaos caused when roads close. Plus it will undoubtedly save lives.

So Gordon Brown how about it, surely this appeals to you?