Are my employees obliged to attend work if there are severe weather conditions?  
Under their contracts of employment, employees are obliged to attend work unless on authorised leave such as sick or holiday leave, or maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave.  This means that, if employees simply fail to attend the office because of severe weather conditions, you may have the option to treat the absence as unauthorised unpaid leave. 

What action can I take to minimise the chaos caused by severe weather?
It is advisable to introduce a clear policy so that employees know what they are expected to do during severe weather conditions.  It could cover alternative ways of dealing with severe weather conditions such as: allowing employees to work from home which, with the help of Blackberrys and/or remote access via a PC, laptop or mobile device, may be a feasible option; or paying the employees as normal and ask them to make the time up later; or allowing employees to take a day’s annual leave or unpaid leave.

Do I have to allow employees time off to care for their children if schools shut?
Many parents have to take time off work to look after children if schools are shut due to bad weather. Employees have a statutory right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with the unexpected disruption, termination or breakdown of arrangements for the care of a dependant and are protected from suffering any detriment if they have to take time off in such situations. 

What about the employees who do make it into work?
You may find that employees who have battled into work resent having to work extra hard to cover the jobs of those who have not managed to get in and find themselves doing tasks which are outside their normal day-to-day activities. You may want to reward their efforts to keep up morale. You should also consider sending employees home early if bad weather could lead to dangerous travel conditions.