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Cold CALL Frigid, wicked winter brings tough decision for employers on whether or when to open for business.
Stacy Wescoe//February 10, 2014
Cold CALL Frigid, wicked winter brings tough decision for employers on whether or when to open for business.
Stacy Wescoe//February 10, 2014//
Listen to this articleBaby it’s cold outside – and snowy and icy and all-around miserable.
The temperature has barely been above the freezing mark the last few weeks, and multiple storms have left roads slippery and hazardous.
It’s enough to make anyone want to skip work or school and stay home.
For school districts, the snow days, late openings and early dismissals are in the double digits.
But for managers and owners of small businesses, the call to close can be harder to make. They have to walk a fine line balancing employee safety and production in instances where every day and every dollar count.
“We’re a small company. It can really screw up our cash flow,” said Victor Schmidt of Kraemer Textiles in Nazareth.
But often it is best for a company to close, not just for safety but for the morale of the employees.
“If you’re forcing people to come in when they don’t want to, you’re going to have bigger issues,” Allentown attorney Deidre Kamber Todd said. “It doesn’t bode well for a workplace environment.”
During the Jan. 21 snowstorm, Kraemer Textiles decided to close for its second and third shifts for the safety of its employees.
Schmidt, corporate secretary of the yarn mill, said making such a call is tough –because of the loss of production – but important, too.
