Field Support Engineers

Hagar_uk

Just curious if there are any other people on the board who do a field service type roll and what they consider are typical working conditions.

My other half is giving me grief as she thinks I am being taken advantage of due to my workload, she comes from a quango based employemnt background where things are very different. I feel in someways I probably am, but not by a huge amount, just curious on other peoples take

Basically I cover the southern parts of uk (cornwall up to bradford), I get a email at around 6pm the previous day telling me where I am going. usually site it is 2 -3 hours away, sometimes 4-5 hours, and spend between 2 and 8 hours on site. meaning typically leave home and get home 7 to 7, sometimes more sometimes less. no overtime and no set policy for time off in lieu.

I don't expect a 7.5 hour working day as in this sector that never happens,

Hammyman

You're getting no better or no worse than everyone else in the job you're in. Your OH needs to realise that in the real world, work isn't like hers. I take it she has a job that's paid for by the public purse where they're not expected to be making a profit? Remind her that in the private sector, there's not a bottomless pit of taxpayers money to spend so things are a bit different.

milliemonster

I have had a field sales role before, and normally travel is included in your working time or at the very least an element of travel should be, Bradford is hardly in the south of the UK!.

I covered an area east of the M1 from Doncaster down to Ipswich, but for health and safety purposes, if we were expected to travel more than 2hrs one way, we were 'encouraged' to stay overnight.

You cannot seriously do a 10hr commute on top of an 8hr on site day. I would not be happy with this, and due to the size of the area you cover, I would want travel time to be included as part of my working time or allowances made for some time back/ opportunity to stay over etc.

What does your contract state about this? what was said to you at interview?

SarEl

milliemonster wrote: »

I have had a field sales role before, and normally travel is included in your working time or at the very least an element of travel should be, Bradford is hardly in the south of the UK!.

I covered an area east of the M1 from Doncaster down to Ipswich, but for health and safety purposes, if we were expected to travel more than 2hrs one way, we were 'encouraged' to stay overnight.

You cannot seriously do a 10hr commute on top of an 8hr on site day. I would not be happy with this, and due to the size of the area you cover, I would want travel time to be included as part of my working time or allowances made for some time back/ opportunity to stay over etc.

What does your contract state about this? what was said to you at interview?

It's not something that I know great detail about (never needed to) but I believe that there are regulations around the amount of time you can work/ drive when driving is involved - and it could hardly be claimed that driving is not part of the job given the territory.

But perhaps the employer isn't all that smart - I think a lot of people in Bradford (to say nothing of quite a few points south of that) would be quite offended to be described as in the South!

getmore4less

These sort of travel and hours come with the type of job.

Your region is a bit on the large side.

Is the pay decent.

I would certainly be looking to optimize with overight stays and having jobs in the same area on consecutive days where possible or overnights in a location between jobs where more convenient than going home to reduce the hours driving.

Kate78

I used to work in the control centre for a logistics company and our client's field service engineers did cover a large area but Cornwall to Bradford is huge! Most of the engineers did jobs within a 2-3 hour radius from home.

HappyMJ

It depends on how you want to play it. How much is the job worth to you? You could say that you won't leave home any earlier than 7.30am for example. An average commute would be an hour for a normal employee then you would get on site at 8.30 or would then be paid on work time to travel further. Work for 4 hours till around 12.30 then take an hour for lunch. Come back to work 1.30 work another 4 hours till 5.30 or leave work at a time will get you home for 6.30pm. I don't think you can get a working day including commuting and lunch much less than 11 hours. So you're only working an extra 1 hour/day at the moment. Is it worth it?

HappyMJ

Flexibility I suppose. I can't leave a site at 5pm knowing there's only about 1 hour worth of work to do and it's a 2 hour drive away. It's my choice and I'll find an hour somewhere maybe a long lunch on a site which the work only takes a few hours for the day.

Barneysmom

I've been in this sort of role for 10 years, doing about 40,000 miles a year.
no area as such though, for example
Monday by Basildon, Essex,
Today Stafford,
Wednesday will be Birmingham,
Thursday not sure yet,
Friday will be Newcastle Upon Tyne.



I'm paid an hourly rate which means if I'm stuck in traffic I am getting paid but feel very guilty about booking full hours travel if I'm stuck for a long time.....

Lunch is usually in a lay-by which is a nuisance but there's nothing I can do about it.


Hagar I get a list of my contracts monthly so I can organise long/short days. Would your company be willing to try it that way and see how you get on with it?
If you do 2 or 3 long distance days you do get tired.

Breakdowns obviously take priority here though.

Barneysmom

I just thought of something, does your company pay for your internet?
And do you get paid admin time for checking your emails/planning routes etc.....

SarEl

I knew there was something lurking at the back of my mind on this one. Eyres v Atkinsons Kitchens & Bedrooms Ltd (look it up). The employer was found liable for an accident caused by a culture of long hours and driving huge distances for work related purposes. After this ruling there was a flurry of health and safety leaflets from the HSE (and others) about driving of the type that you are describing (between, to/from sites).

The hours spent driving between sites are also covered by the Working Time Regulations (although this does not mean that you have to be paid for such time - that is a different matter).

I am still thinking about this one. Somewhere in the back of my head there is a thought that I recall some EAT case law on this too, but I have never needed it and cannot recall what the case is - but it may come back to me.