Exact temperature too hot to work in Scotland and when you can get sent home

Scottish workers are facing the same question as temperatures rise again: is there a legal temperature at which employers must send people home?

The answer remains no. There is no fixed maximum workplace temperature in UK law, including Scotland. But that does not mean employers can treat heat as harmless. They still have health and safety duties to keep workplaces reasonably safe and to assess the risks created by hot conditions.

Why the issue has returned

The question has come back because Scotland is heading into an unusually hot spell for June. Coverage says temperatures could reach about 31C in the Borders and 28C in Glasgow, with the hot weather expected to last at least until Friday.

That forecast is also being treated as a Scottish heatwave under the usual definition of three consecutive days at 25C or above.

The wider UK picture has intensified the concern. The Met Office has issued a rare red weather warning for Wednesday and Thursday, with temperatures forecast above 37C and possibly reaching 40C in some parts of the country. The UK Health Security Agency has also issued a red heat health alert across six regions of England.

What the law says

The legal position is straightforward, even if it is often misunderstood. There is no single number in UK law at which a workplace automatically becomes too hot.

Instead, employers must manage heat as a workplace hazard. That means considering the temperature, the type of work being done, ventilation, access to water, rest breaks and the physical demands of the job.

Coverage cited in the research says workers should raise concerns with their employer if conditions become uncomfortable or unsafe. In practice, employers may respond by changing hours, improving ventilation, providing water, increasing breaks or, in some cases, sending staff home.

Which workers are most exposed

The impact depends on the setting. Office workers may struggle in hot indoor conditions, but physically demanding jobs face a more immediate safety risk because heat increases the chance of dehydration, fainting and heatstroke.

Outdoor work is especially exposed, including construction and other manual jobs where shade and temperature control may be limited. In those situations, employers may need to act faster if heat becomes a foreseeable risk.

The coverage also points to proposals discussed by unions and climate-policy bodies, including suggested limits of 30C for indoor work and 27C for physically intensive work. Those figures are not current law, but they show how the debate around workplace heat is developing.

What workers can do

If a workplace becomes unsafe, the first step is to raise the issue with a manager or employer. Discomfort alone does not give people an automatic right to leave, but a genuine safety risk should trigger a response.

If nothing changes and the danger remains serious, employers can face liability for failing to deal properly with a foreseeable health and safety hazard. That is why heat planning matters before conditions peak, not after staff start to feel unwell.

For workers and employers alike, the key point is not whether there is a fixed cut-off temperature. It is whether the response matches the risk.

What happens next

The immediate watchpoints are whether the Scottish forecast temperatures are reached, whether the heatwave threshold is confirmed or extended, and whether employers or unions issue fresh guidance as conditions intensify.

Official advice could also shift if the heat becomes more severe. For now, the rules remain unchanged: there is no fixed temperature that automatically sends workers home, but there is a clear duty to respond when heat becomes a safety risk.