Middle East conflict: Employment and HR considerations for UK employers

Current events in the Middle East have left thousands of people stranded abroad due to a closure of airspace, holiday and business travel plans disrupted, and those with family or friends based in the region anxious. This creates several challenges for UK employers who have staff or their loved ones caught up in the conflict. Here are our ten tips for UK employers in managing some of the HR and employment issues arising:  

1. Ensure effective communication with all staff, acknowledging the conflict and offering support to those affected. This includes ensuring contact details of staff are up to date, and that affected workers know who they can contact if they need help, whether whilst travelling or because they have connections in the affected regions (e.g. for practical travel support, for keeping work updated about ongoing absence, or for access to employee assistance programmes). Open, sensitive and empathetic communications provide comfort to workers that their employers recognise the challenges and have their wellbeing in mind.

2. Stay abreast of official guidance, particularly from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Employers are advised to take proportionate action to protect workers by cancelling business trips where FCDO and/or insurance guidelines advise against travel to the destination, and are likely to want to restrict non-essential business travel affected by high-risk countries.

3. Be flexible over work and leave arrangements for workers who cannot get home after their approved annual leave as they are not usually entitled to be paid unless an employer has a policy permitting this. Additional flexibility is likely to be beneficial – for some, working remotely until they can return home may be feasible. Alternatively, employers could require any time spent stranded to be taken as paid holiday (dispensing with any usual notice requirements), agree to additional paid or unpaid leave, or allow missed time to be made up on their return. Where unpaid leave or post-return work arrangements are agreed, employers should clarify the arrangements in writing.

4. Be prepared for last minute holiday cancellations as individuals with booked holiday may decide to change their plans due to concerns over travel or because of airline or FCDO restrictions, and as such may wish to cancel their booked leave and retain entitlement for another time. Employers should be flexible in allowing this to happen.

5. Employers concerned about a worker’s personal travel plans can only stop them from taking leave by serving a counter-notice to the holiday request. Unless the contract of employment provides otherwise, counter-notice is given by giving at least the number of days’ notice as the days of leave (i.e. the employer must give at least five days’ counter-notice to an employee in respect of a five-day period of leave). If the worker still travels, they could be reminded of the risks involved and required to keep employers informed of plans and anything which puts them at an increased risk, asked to take whatever they need to work remotely (if this is feasible for their role) in case required, and warned that if they get stranded or delayed abroad due to the conflict, and remote working not possible, extra time off will be unpaid unless they take further holiday.

6. Business travellers stranded abroad on a work trip would ordinarily be entitled to reasonable expenses for accommodation and subsistence if their return travel plans are disrupted, subject to the terms of the company expenses policy. Policies should be checked in respect of any pre-approvals required, and the worker reassured whether they will be supported financially. Employers should also keep in regular contact with any stranded business travellers and offer support on managing their return home. 

7. Remote working will only be possible where workers have appropriate equipment with them, which many holiday travellers may not. Remote workers will also need to ensure their internet connection is safe, and that access to the organisation’s systems is secure. This should not be assumed, and workers should be reminded of protecting confidential information and given guidance on any location-specific IT security issues.

8. Some workers may need to take time off to care for dependants, e.g. because disrupted travel plans have affected usual childcare or other caring arrangements. Whilst there is a statutory right for time off in circumstances such as these, the amount of time off must be ‘reasonable’. This is ordinarily seen as 1-2 days to put alternative arrangements in place, but employers should be pragmatic about what they consider to be ‘reasonable’. Unless company policies provide otherwise, there is no right for the time off to be paid, although it is open for individuals to take annual leave to cover or for employers to agree to paid or unpaid time off. 

9. Remember not to discriminate when applying decisions on how to treat individuals in, e.g. allowing time off and how that is treated, working arrangements, and/or pay, or when amending any policies to address the conflict. Also, be mindful of potential indirect discrimination issues when adjusting or creating policies to address issues arising from the conflict e.g. travel restrictions to certain countries may indirectly discriminate against certain nationalities. 

10. Ensure managers are familiar with relevant policies and processes for handling workplace issues arising from the ongoing conflict, reinforcing the need for sensitivity, understanding, flexibility and consistency in approach.