Temperatures in the Workplace

[SHYTOT]

In the UK, the relevant legislation is section 6 of the Offices Shops & Railway Premises Act 1963. The appropriate bits say -

"(2) Where a substantial proportion of the work done in a room to which the foregoing subsection applies does not involve severe physical effort, a temperature of less than 16 degrees Celsius (61F) shall not be deemed, after the first hour, to be a reasonable temperature while work is going on.

 

(3)...there shall be provided for persons who are employed to work in a room to which... this section would apply, conveniently accessible and effective means of enabling them to warm themselves.

 

(6)It shall be the duty of the employer of persons for whom means of enabling them to warm themselves are provided in pursuance of subsection (3) of this section to afford them reasonable opportunities for using those means, and if he fails so to do he shall be guilty of an offence."

 

Please note that NOWHERE in the Act (despite urban mythology to the contrary) does it provide for people to be sent home. This is not a right, although sometimes it is easier for an employer to send people home rather than put up with the problems.

 

How do you make them sort it? Threaten them with a prosecution or, alternatively, apply for a civil injunction requiring them to comply with the legal duty. The latter could also provide specific compensation as well.

 

Og course such action is unlikely to improve relations between you and your employer.

 

C

 

That legislation has been superseeded.