Asking to be depot based = financial hardship?

sarymclary

Hi, (apologies for a rather long post!)

My OH is a driver for a company based in south Hertfordshire. He has been employed by them for 18 months. We live in Lincolnshire. When employed, it was on the understanding that he was to be 'out-based', since his delivery area covers Norfolk/Lincs/Cambs (his area is 1/6th of the country & delivers alone, from a large network of drivers). He cycles 1/2km to where his truck is parked o/night, and drives to customers, going into the Herts depot to reload (initially he held stock locally here too, but it was stopped by the old company). He currently reloads 2-3 times a week, dependent upon customer's needs.

This is a national company, and was taken over in Feb.'09 in a swift manner. The company has clearly been mis-managed for a long time, losing a lot of £. OH was quite pleased to see this happen, as it would hopefully mean the chaotic way it had been running would cease.

Redundancies were made last week, based on merit/sickness/work record. OH was not one of them. However, they have not told him he needs to pick up/drop off his truck @ the Herts depot on a daily basis.

This causes several issues, but primarily, it would mean commuting 2hrs to the depot at each end of the day, then driving on his tachograph back up to this area and further north, taking up to 3/4hrs on a bad day, not having time to deliver to 200 customers, having to take compulsory rest breaks, and doing a 3/4hr drive back to the depot.

He has tried to put his views across to his new depot manager today. She seemed impassive about things, but asked if he was resigning! He's said he really loves his job (which he does), wants to do a good job, is concerned customers are going to be let down or lost (as happened during mix-ups with route planning last year). He prides himself on doing a good job. It's not mega pay, approx. £20k p/a, but it is a good wage compared to local jobs, which are minimum wage usually, but we are a family of 6, and he is the only wage earner.

We are already living on a very tight budget, and try to walk rather than use a car as it is. The fuel costs for him to commute will roughly be £250 p/month - that's a huge chunk of our income! Oh, and OH doesn't actually own his own car - he borrows mine! We're just in the process of moving in together, partly to cut down on living costs as I can't afford to live on my own with my kids anymore. The commute by train involves a 10 mile drive to the nearest station, a train journey involving 3 changes, taking 2hr 13mins and the return ticket costs £75 per day!:eek:

I've told him not to hand in his notice, as they were clearly pushing for him to do today, although they didn't seem to know what way to deal with the problem. The manager is going to talk to HR tomorrow about it. I've advised him that if his position clearly isn't redundant, they can't make him redundant, but could they sack him for not going into the depot daily? Could be then claim constructive dismissal, as the situation isn't even viable from a corporate viewpoint?

What, if anything can he do? His contract was made verbally to be 'out-based', but the paper contract is from his depot, based in Herts. Could his union be of any use (TGWU)?

Thanks for any help or suggestions - the upshot is my OH loves his job, and wants to try to keep it!

max2009

You need contact his union ASAP.They are trying to get him resign.Was he claiming 'night out' money every night and stayed in the truck ?

max2009

sarymclary wrote: »

What, if anything can he do? His contract was made verbally to be 'out-based', but the paper contract is from his depot, based in Herts. Could his union be of any use (TGWU)?

I think when he took the job they asked him to cover that area and told him he would not need to be based out of the Herts depot so they could just cover that drivers route.Sadly there is no way of proving this verbal agreement and even more damaging is there is a paper contract saying the job has to be based out of herts.I think the company have been paying 'night out' allowance to your husband every night and so they now they are simply trying to save money in the takeover.

Like i said before ring the Union ASAP and get them involved to try and salvage something.

sarymclary

Hi,
He gets no 'night out' allowance. He simply parks the truck at a different lorry depot down the road, and cycles home. The reason his job was out-based is because his routes are, in the main part, so far from the depot. There is another out-based driver, who has been allowed to remain out-based, but he's the only one now.

Interestingly, OH discovered today that rather than telling just the 2 people being made redundant at the end of last week, they've also told a 3rd person, but now told him they're a 'bit undecided' about his position! My OH wonders if they were hoping to force his hand today (this other guy was told he was being made redundant last Friday) and slot this other driver into his job? My OH feels that there's probably no point going to the union (although I think he should), as he's on a hiding to nothing anyway, and if their mind is made up, then that's what they'll insist on, regardless of what he says.

I have suggested he keeps pushing to negotiate and discuss matters, to stall for time, which will make it harder for them to keep these 'redundant' people hanging around. I also pointed out it took him a long time to find employment before this job, so spending some time and energy fighting for it is surely worth it. I think he feels he's just being given a big kick in the kahunas as a thanks for all the dedication and hard work he's put in.

The ironic thing is that we know the job cannot be done from the Herts base, as logistically it's not do-able, but I bet the spreadsheet says different!

Thanks for the replies guys!

max2009

Like i say he needs contact the TGWU as soon as possible that is what they are there for.He has worked less than 2 years so he would not get redundancy payment.