Snow-day debate: Company policies

How does your employer stack up against others when it comes to snow closings and compensation?

You can compare your company's policy to a snapshot of responses from 50 human resources professionals -- about half in the metro area and on Long Island, the rest nationwide - -who participated in a Web survey on pay, policies and inclement weather conducted by Ted Turnasella, a compensation consultant and principal of Comp-unications in West Islip.

Among findings:

55.8 percent of respondents said they pay full-time employees - without charging them a vacation or personal day - if the company closes due to bad weather;

23 percent do not pay full-timers for a snow closing but do allow them to count such a day off as a vacation or personal day;

76 percent said that if the company is open and full-timers don't arrive for work, they are not paid but can take a personal or vacation day.

Turnasella said the findings confirmed his sense that most employers are going to allow employees to opt for that vacation or personal day if bad weather keeps them home.

Other issues addressed included practices with part-timers, exempt versus nonexempt workers, and how employers notify workers of a snow closing.

One surprise, said Turnasella: 60 percent of respondents said they notify employees of a company closing by phone, be it voice mail or a call-in number. He said he would have expected more to use e-mail blasts.