Office Closings Due to Weather

The credit union has altered office hours in recent weeks due to inclement weather conditions in the Tennessee Valley. I thought that it might help members to understand the process on how and why we change our business hours in relation to weather conditions.

To begin with, safety of our employees is the primary determining factor in adjusting our operating hours due to weather. Employees are required to be here so they cannot leave on their own whenever weather conditions deteriorate. It is the responsibility of credit union management to estimate future travel conditions and to place employees on the road at a time when they will be safe. Emergency management resources, local radar, and weather media all play a part in trying to determine current and future weather conditions.

If we do have to close early or open later, the objective is to make this determination with several hours of notification being available to the membership. All three major television networks in this area (ABC, CBS, and NBC) are contacted as soon as possible to report any change in our operating hours. Our credit union home page is updated with the weather closing information being prominently displayed at the top of the page. Home banking users also receive a broadcast message upon signing in about any closings. Our Facebook page is updated to report weather closing information. The credit union is in the process of establishing a Twitter account and this would be another excellent means of communicating weather closing events.

Contrary to popular belief we do not follow the weather closing schedules of school systems in the area. Schools have built in weather days in their calendars. The credit union does not.

If inclement weather is possible in the area, either call the credit union or visit the credit union's home page for potential weather closing information. The television web sites can also be visited for their list of business closings/delays. (Visiting their web sites is much faster than waiting for closings/delays to scroll across the television screen.)

Weather closings and delays do occur at times. This is another reason why VISA Debit Cards and direct deposit are such great services as they provide account access whether our offices are open or not.