02/22/2014    Joel Lang, DPM

Snow Days Policy (Tom DeBenedictis, DPM)

When I was in practice, we had 'defined policies'
for handling snow days as well as most other
office related issues. I used paper appointment
books at that time, but for those with electronic
scheduling, the process can be modified
accordingly.

When snow was in the forecast, my secretary would
take home a photocopy of the appointment schedule
for the day(s) in question as well as the next 5
days of appointments. Next to each name for the
next day or two, she would record the patient's
phone number before leaving the office.

I would wake very early on the morning of the snow
forecast and make a determination about opening or
closing. If closing was the decision, I would then
call my secretary, who would then make calls to
all scheduled patients from her home, beginning
with the first scheduled patient and re-schedule
all of them. Other employees would be notified as
well.

All employees would be paid for 1/2 day on the
day(s) we were closed. This seemed like a fair
compromise making it fair for all concerned. In
addition, she would be paid full salary for all
the time she spent making the calls.

This of course was in addition to any sick leave
and vacation leave to which the employee was
entitled. There were never that many days involved
in any given year and at the end of the year, it
made little difference to the "bottom line". This
eliminated the need for anyone to endanger
themselves driving through hazardous conditions.
Frankly, I did not mind the extra day off either.

Joel Lang, DPM (retired), Cheverly, MD,
langfinancial@verizon.net

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