With temperatures set to soar into the high 30s this week, you’re likely to have questions about what this means for your workdays.
The Met Office has warned parts of southern England and southeast Wales could hit 37°C tomorrow.
From the middle of the week, temperatures could potentially exceed 38°C, triggering a rare red weather warning before Friday ushers in a comparatively cool 33°C.
Basically, it’s going to be a sweaty one – and lots of us may be concerned about how the heatwave will affect our working conditions.
As explained by Lime Solicitors, these include employers ensuring staff can keep cool and accommodating work-from-home requests when possible.
Neha Thethi, Head of Employment at Lime Solicitors, explains employers must not neglect their health and safety responsibilities as temperatures soar, even though remote and hybrid working is more common now.
Thethi argues that, if people are uncomfortable, it’s difficult to maintain a productive workplace.
‘Employers usually rely on air conditioning and ventilation to regulate temperatures within the workplace,’ explains Thethi.
‘However, many remote and hybrid workers may not have this option, with their only means of keeping cool being open windows.
‘This could lead to the potential disturbance from street noise and neighbours when trying to make telephone or video calls, and therefore can make this option impractical.’
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Businesses should consider what else they can do to help their employees during this time – for example, providing workers with electric fans.