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If a road closure is delaying your journey, put safety first, then contact your manager as soon as it is safe to do so. Explain the closure, give a realistic arrival estimate, and say when you will update them. Ask whether you should arrive later, work remotely, adjust your hours, swap a shift or use another arrangement that fits your role. Do not drive through a closure or take an unsafe shortcut to protect your original start time. Your contract and workplace policy determine how lateness, pay and leave are handled.
What to do immediately
1. Stop trying to recover time by taking risks
Do not enter a road marked closed, ignore a diversion, make an illegal turn or speed because you are late. If you are driving, do not read or type a message while the vehicle is moving. Pull over somewhere legal and safe, or ask a passenger to contact work. Follow the signed diversion and current instructions from the road authority or local traffic service.
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Acas says employers should not encourage staff to travel when conditions make it unsafe and recommends following local travel advice. HSE guidance on work-related journeys also stresses safe route selection, journey timing and managing road risks. Those principles support a simple decision: a safe late arrival is preferable to an unsafe attempt to be on time.
2. Tell work promptly
Acas states: “If someone cannot get to work or is delayed, they should contact their employer as soon as they can.” This wording appears in its “Travel, weather and other issues — Disruption getting to work” guidance, updated 23 December 2024.
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Use the person and channel named in your employer’s disruption, attendance or site policy. If no process is specified, contact your manager through the normal work channel as soon as practical. For construction work, that may be a site supervisor, project manager, office manager or duty contact rather than the person who normally approves annual leave.
3. Give facts your manager can act on
A short, specific update is more useful than a long account of the traffic. Include:
- the closed road, junction or area, if you know it;
- the official diversion or alternative route you are following;
- your best current arrival estimate;
- whether the estimate depends on the closure being lifted;
- the time you will check in again if the position changes; and
- any immediate effect on a shift, delivery, site induction, meeting or handover.
Do not present an optimistic guess as a promise. If the route is changing quickly, say that the estimate is provisional and provide a time for the next update.
Step-by-step response
- Confirm the closure safely. Use current official road-authority information or a local traffic service, and follow signs at the scene. Do not rely on an old screenshot or an unverified social-media post for a live route decision.
- Find the safest lawful route. Compare the authorised diversion with other routes by safety, legality and likely arrival time. If every route is unsafe or the delay is substantial, stop planning as though you will still make the original start.
- Contact the correct workplace person. Follow your policy. If you cannot reach the named contact, leave a message and use the normal backup channel if one exists. Keep a record of when you made contact.
- State the current plan. Tell your manager whether you expect to arrive late, remain delayed, or be unable to travel. Give the estimate and the next update time rather than repeatedly sending incomplete messages.
- Ask which workable arrangement they prefer. Depending on your job and workplace agreement, discuss later arrival, adjusted hours, remote work, a temporary hybrid change, a shift swap or temporary changes to duties. These are options to agree, not automatic entitlements.
- Update the decision if the facts change. A closure can last longer than expected, a diversion can become congested, or conditions can become unsafe. Send the revised estimate and ask for a new instruction instead of silently missing the start time.
A message you can adapt
Send the message only when you are safely stopped or have someone else send it. Replace the bracketed fields with your details:
Hi [name], a road closure at [location/road] has delayed my commute. My current estimated arrival is [time]. I’m following the signed/official diversion and will update you by [time] if that changes. Would you prefer that I come in late, work remotely if available, or use another arrangement?This is a practical template, not wording from Acas and not a legal notice. If you already know the closure makes travel impossible, say so directly and ask what you should do for the rest of the shift.
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Options to discuss with your employer
Acas identifies several possible arrangements when disruption makes travel difficult or impossible. The realistic choice depends on the work, equipment, confidentiality, supervision, site rules and your employer’s agreement.
| Arrangement | Most suitable when | Points to agree |
|---|---|---|
| Arrive later | The closure or congestion is expected to clear and the work can start later | New arrival time, any missed handover or meeting, and whether hours will be adjusted |
| Flexible hours or make-up time | The role allows working the missed time later | When the hours will be worked and how the change will be recorded |
| Work from home | Your duties can be performed remotely and you have the required access and equipment | Approval, working hours, communications and any limits on remote work |
| Temporary hybrid change | You normally work partly from home but the closure affects the office or site day | Which day changes, how long the temporary arrangement lasts and when you attend in person |
| Swap a shift | Another trained worker and the scheduling process permit a change | Manager approval, the replacement shift and handover responsibilities |
| Temporary duty change | Your usual task cannot be done from the delayed location but another useful task is available | The task, supervision, timing and any required competence or site authorisation |
For site-based construction roles
Tell the supervisor early if your delay affects a safety briefing, induction, permit, delivery slot, plant handover or crew start. Do not ask another worker to bypass a site rule or take over a task requiring training or authorisation simply to cover your arrival. The manager can decide whether the work can be resequenced, whether a later start is safe, or whether you should complete an approved administrative or remote task instead.
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If your work can be done remotely, identify the tasks you can start immediately: calls, document review, scheduling, estimating or progress updates. Confirm how to access systems and how your availability will be shown. Remote work still requires an explicit agreement; a road closure does not automatically change a fixed workplace arrangement.
Pay, leave and workplace rights in the UK
Do not assume that a closure automatically creates a right to paid time, unpaid time or remote work. Acas and GOV.UK guidance direct employees to check their contract and discuss the situation with the employer. Your attendance policy may set a notification method, a cut-off time, evidence requirements or a process for exceptional disruption.
GOV.UK explains that travel disruption can be treated differently depending on whether you cannot travel, the workplace itself is closed, or you request leave. It also notes that an employer may ask an employee to take paid holiday if the required notice is given. The result depends on the contract, the facts and the applicable UK rules, so obtain the arrangement in writing when possible.
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- Get more situational awareness with alerts for school zones, speed changes, sharp curves and more
- View food, fuel and rest areas along your active route, and see upcoming cities and milestones
- View Tripadvisor traveler ratings for top-rated restaurants, hotels and attractions to help you make the most of road trips
- Directory of U.S. national parks simplifies navigation to entrances, visitor centers and landmarks within the parks
A workplace closure is not the same as an employee being unable to reach an open workplace. If the employer closes the site, the employer’s rules for that situation may apply. If only your route is blocked, the employer may instead discuss lateness, leave, lost time or an alternative working arrangement. Readers outside the UK should use the employment rules that apply in their jurisdiction rather than treating this guidance as universal.
Choosing a route without creating a bigger problem
Use five checks before continuing:
- Is the road authority showing the route as open? A route that appears clear on an old map may still be closed.
- Is the alternative legal and safe? Never cross barriers, use restricted lanes without permission or follow an unsafe shoulder route.
- What is the credible arrival time? Allow for the diversion itself and likely queues, not just the distance on a map.
- Can the job be done later or elsewhere? Consider whether the role requires a particular site, tools, supervision or physical presence.
- What do your policy and contract require? Use the specified contact route and follow any attendance or leave process.
HSE’s driving-and-riding-for-work guidance concerns employers’ management of health and safety risks for work activities on the road. It distinguishes ordinary commuting to a usual workplace from work-related driving. Do not assume that every duty applying to business journeys automatically applies to your normal commute, or that the distinction removes the need for sensible safety decisions.
If the closure lasts all day
Tell your manager when it becomes clear that the original estimate is no longer realistic. Ask whether to work remotely, use an agreed leave arrangement, make up time, swap the shift or remain off for the day under the employer’s process. Do not simply stop communicating because you have already reported the first delay.
Where the employer asks you to use holiday or another form of leave, ask for the instruction and the relevant notice or policy basis. If you disagree about pay, attendance or leave, keep the discussion factual: record the closure information, your contact attempts, the instructions received and the hours actually worked.
Prepare before the next disruption
Most of the difficulty can be reduced before a closure occurs. Find your employer’s disruption policy and note:
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- the approved communication channels;
- how often delayed workers must provide updates;
- whether remote work, flexible hours or shift swaps are available;
- how pay, holiday and unpaid time are handled; and
- any site-specific rules for late arrival, induction or access.
Keep your manager’s contact details accessible, know which official road service covers your route, and understand which duties you can perform away from the workplace. This preparation does not guarantee a particular outcome, but it lets you report the problem quickly and propose a realistic solution.
Quick Recap
Quick decision checklist
- Am I stopped or otherwise able to communicate safely?
- Is the closure and diversion confirmed by current official information?
- Have I contacted the correct workplace person?
- Did I give a realistic arrival estimate and next update time?
- Have I asked which approved arrangement the employer wants?
- Have I checked the contract or policy before assuming anything about pay or leave?
- Have I updated work if the route, safety or arrival estimate changed?
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