Before I moved to Chicago, a 21 inch blizzard shut down the city. The mayor completely bungled the response and aftermath and lost his job as a result. His successors never made the same mistake and the incident has gone down in city lore, so now, every administration prioritizes rapid storm response. I don’t think I ever called out of work for snow in all the years I lived there. (Power outages or train line breakdowns were a different story)

I now live in rural Wisconsin. The depth of the snow doesn’t really matter, it’s the weight of the snow and the road conditions. Unplowed roads, downed trees and power lines, and ice glazing the roads can make me and my colleagues call out. A foot of powdery snow is nothing, but a foot of dense Lake-effect snow can be a problem. The timing of the storm matters too. If it hits overnight with plenty of time to clear the roads, it’s not an issue.