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When extreme weather hits, employees look to HR for clarity: Can I work from home? Do I need to use PTO? What if my kids' school is closed?

HR can play a central role in how employees experience a crisis. Establishing clear, flexible policies helps people navigate weather disruptions without fear of losing pay or job security. And planning ahead reduces the burden of fielding one-off requests in the middle of a storm. 

This guide offers a range of strategies to build flexibility into your policies, so you can start where you are and build from there.

This guide is part of The HR Leader's Guide to Extreme Weather Readiness, an Extreme Weather + Work resource designed to support a range of HR focus areas. Each guide stands alone, so whether you own one area or wear many hats, you can explore what's most relevant to your role.

Start Here

• ‍Establish flexible work policies for extreme weather events. Ensure remote and hybrid work policies explicitly cover weather disruptions, including poor air quality days, severe heat and cold, flooding, and power outages. Clarify who can work remotely, how decisions get communicated, and what documentation (if any) is required.
• ‍Update attendance policies. Include excused absences during extreme weather emergencies without requiring employees to use paid time off.

Build On It

• Expand paid leave options. Consider creating a dedicated extreme weather leave category. Expand emergency leave policies to cover evacuation, home damage, caregiving disruptions, and recovery time. Define eligibility and triggers clearly.
  
  • Solution Spotlight: Get started on creating a climate leave policy. (Mercer)‍
• ‍Establish clear return-to-work protocols. After an extreme weather event, employees may face ongoing challenges, such as damaged homes, displaced family members, unreliable transportation, caregiving gaps, or lingering health impacts. Define how and when employees are expected to return, build in flexibility or phased return options for those still recovering, and communicate proactively so workers aren't left guessing.‍
• Provide dependent care support. When schools, daycares, or eldercare facilities close due to extreme weather events, working parents and caregivers face impossible choices. Explore backup care benefits, flexible scheduling, or temporary dependent care stipends.

Lead the Field

• Provide relocation and temporary housing support. For employees displaced by disasters, consider offering temporary housing assistance or relocation stipends. Explore partnerships with housing providers.
• Offer seasonal location flexibility. Allow employees in high-risk regions to temporarily relocate during predictable risk periods (e.g., hurricane season, wildfire season) if their role permits remote work.

More HR Focus Areas

This article is part of The HR Leader's Guide to Extreme Weather Readiness. Explore other focus areas:

• The Business Case
• Benefits Design
• People Analytics

More Guidance

Workforce readiness requires coordination across teams. Explore guides designed for more functions at your organization, and learn more about the Extreme Weather + Work initiative.

• Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)
  Readiness strategies for OHS focus areas, including prevention, training, emergency response, and more.‍
• Extreme Weather + Work Home
  Learn how your organization can support workers before, during, and after extreme weather.

About Extreme Weather + Work

Extreme Weather + Work is an initiative of the Health Action Alliance. We bring together leaders who rarely sit in the same room and connect them with peers across industries, giving them the research and tools they need to support their people before, during, and after extreme weather.

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