Park Lane College slammed for penalising staff who refused to defy police travel advice

UCU has reacted angrily to the news that staff who refused to travel to work earlier this week in treacherous conditions will lose a day's annual leave. The union said it was 'horrified' that the college would expect staff to defy police advice not to travel in such dangerous conditions to avoid being penalised.
 
Most roads and transport links on Monday and Tuesday were not operating or suffered major problems. College staff have complained that those who did brave the conditions and travel against the advice of the police and emergency services found they had very few students to teach anyway. Most felt that the college should have been more decisive with a decision on whether or not to close and that the time wasted making the journeys to and from the college would have been much better spent working from home.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The safety of staff and students has to be the paramount concern of any college. We are absolutely horrified that Park Lane College has threatened staff with a reduction in their holiday entitlement if they were not prepared to make a journey to work that the police and emergency services advised against.
 
'Staff not wanting to be penalised were putting their safety, and that of others, at risk if they attempted to travel in such dangerous conditions. We hope the college will now retract these ridiculous penalties and make a clear statement about the importance of the safety of its staff and the local community.'