Because in my experience, most businesses WILL shutter when the weather demands it. I’m a reasonably loyal (read: it’s too much trouble to leave) employee, so i’ve only worked for so many employers. But I’ve always been good at driving in snow. So I often AM the crazy person who shows up to work during a blizzard. And I LOVE IT. The office is quiet, I have everything to myself (mostly).
Most of my jobs they have a standing liberal leave policy. If you don’t think you can make it here safely, please take the day off. Mind you, those are my post-college white collar job days.
As a teen, I worked at a grocery store and a convenience store. I don’t think I ever had a blizzard at the convenience store, but I worked a few at the grocers. Their policy was linked to the schools. If the schools are delayed/closed, please call in, and if someone is here, they’ll tell you the policy that day. It was usually ‘optional’ whether you came in or not. Again, i usually went in because I’m confident in my snow driving ability (seriously, it’s not that hard Maryland…why do you suck so hard at it???)
My favorite was my first post-college job. The boss would usually come around and send us home after a time. One year, this was because while I was at work, enough snow fell in the lot that it was heavilly covered on the side where my car was. A plow had come in to clear a path to the door, but this meant a large berm of snow was between me and the exit. I was in my early 20s, so like the retard that all early-20s males are, my decision was to gun it at the berm and blast through. I did. And it was EPIC. But it could have gone very badly I realize now.