Work travel problems...help!!!

stephbond89

My husband works for a large security company, but the managers at his branch aren't very helpful, and tend to put themselves and their own families first (i.e. they get weekends and holidays off whilst the other staff are forced to work bank holidays and christmas and weekends- written into their contract so they cannto get out of it either!).

Yesterday my hubbys car died, and we cannot afford to replace it, we just had a baby, so money is a bit tighter than normal, and we certainly dont have enough to go out and get transport, not even a moped or anything like that. He works along a duel carriageway and busy motorway, so cannot ride a bike their, and its a good 10 miles each way, so a taxi is out of the question due to the cost aspect of it and public transport goes nowhere near where he works so he cannot use that either.

Basically his boss is saying he is going to have to miss his weekday shifts (of which there are 2 per week at £100 per shift) as his boss cannot pick him up- one of them due to family commitemnts (he has to pick his kids up from school 20 miles away at 3pm and my husband has to be at work for 4.30) and the other as he has other work to do. The "supervisors" who are there for pick ups and the likes, dont start work until 6pm, and finish at 6am...my husband works from 4.30pm til 8am...so they arent started when he starts and are home by the time he finishes, so they cannot do their job either...

I understand its a pain in the backside for my husband to need a lift into work (he works alone as a security guard so no other staff can lift him in either) but there are numerous other members of staff who get lifted in as they dont drive or cannot drive, but as their shifts start and end at 6am/pm they fit in with supervisor hours...

So basically my husband is going to be losing £800 a month (more than half his wages) because he wont be doing his 2 week shifts and only the weekend shifts because work wont accomodate his needs!!! Is there ANYTHING at all we can do????? As I say we have just had a baby, so the last thing we need is for my husband to lose £200 a week in wages we simply cannot live off £500 a month! Our rent is £420, and I dont work nor do I get benefits other than child tax credits of £75 per week, which are to go on my daughters milk/nappies and care.

Where do we stand legally with this?! We will be getting a car after christmas as we are having my mum and dads once christmas is over as they are upgradig, but they cannot do this until December at the earliest when my mum gets some money from her pension- no way of bringing it forward.
We looked at hiring a car, but its £125 a week! So not worth it once we add petrol prices.

We just dont know what to do about it, we cannot afford to lose thios much money as I am sure you can understand but we have no other way of my husband getting to work ANY help will be hugely appreciated!!!!!!

Googlewhacker

It is not the employers responsibility to get you to work.

I think you need to be looking at maybe getting a small loan to buy a moped or a car to get him to work because losing your job.

What about public transport, it maybe a bit of a has and add a couple of hours to his day but it would be cheaper.

KimYeovil

You contracted to attend a place of work. It is your responsibility to travel there. Nothing to do with them. What do you mean "accommodate your needs"? Temporary costs and alternative arrangements in an emergency should have been planned. Why can't you buy an old banger for a couple of hundred pounds? Pay a private hire taxi for seven or eight weeks? Hire a motor scooter? Borrow a motor scooter?

And £75 is a lot to pay for nappies and milk formula!!! After rent you have £380 per four weeks to live on without the extra shifts!! You can not 'survive' on £380 for a couple of months? Don't be silly. Be grateful your husband is not being sacked for not turning up.

starrystarry

The OP said public transport isn't an option, it goes nowhere near where her husband works.

As googlewhacker said, the employer isn't required to provide transport. My OH also works in security and was recently moved to a new site which is 13 miles from where we live. Its a right pain in the a$$ to get to, no public transport to there either. I have to drive him there and back which is adding 2 hours onto my day but we have no choice until another site becomes available or he finds a job with someone else.

That's probably your best bet, hit the job sites sharpish.

Emmzi

£400 for a moped versus £800 a month. Hmm...

have you tried liftshare.com?

throw yourelf on mum's mercy and beg to borrow her car?

KimYeovil

Hmm, seems even less of an issue on second reading. There are only TWO shifts that you are trying to cover. So two taxi trips per week. Have you bothered to investigate the cost? It can't be more than £100 each, surely? Probably much less. Leaving £80 per month. Why can't you live on that temporarily?

Even worse --- it is only 10 miles each way!!!! Two and a half hours walk at most! And only for two shifts per week. Seriously, what is the problem? If you don't want to pay for taxis or rent cars WALK.

Crazy, crazy world.

starrystarry

KimYeovil wrote: »

Even worse --- it is only 10 miles each way!!!! Two and a half hours walk at most! And only for two shifts per week. Seriously, what is the problem? If you don't want to pay for taxis or rent cars WALK.

If you re-read the original post Kim you'll see that her husband works from 4.30pm to 8am, that's 15 and a half hours. If you're going to add another 5 hours walking onto that it's getting a bit ridiculous.

Spendless

Look into the cost of a taxi to get you thru the next couple of months- it can't be as expensive as losing £200 per week!

stephbond89

Im glad someone else picked up on the 15 hours...meaning that "adding an extra couple of hours to his day" impossible. An hour extra each way would mean he had 7 hours at home...that would mean what 5 hours sleep at most and then 2 hours tp spend with his new daughter to eat etc? Im sure your not expecting that! Also, public transport literally goes nowhere near, he wouldnt mind getting a bus into work as the hours tie in perfectly with transport timings, but its the fact he would end up walking for an hour anyway from the nearest bus stop!

A taxi will be probably £15 each way for a 10 mile journey, thats £30 per shift, we'd need that £30 per shift in advance, which is a problem for us as we're paid monthly, so until payday we onyl have the child benefit to live off, and £30 a week out fo that is a big chunk of the money, and no maybe £75 isnt needed for nappies and milk, but a good £20 is needed a week, I like to have at least £15 left for emergencies for her if she runs out of milk or needs some medication or anything which cannto be gotten on perscription. And then theres shopping etc which is needed.

We cannot afford to "gte an old banger" that would require having at least £350, we've looked at what is going at the moment in the area and this is the least, but we dont have £350, we cannot get a loan due to bad credit. And also couldnt afford the repayments anyway. Mopeds and bikes are even more expensive and my husband would have to take a course before he could ride a moped.

He cannot physically walk to work, even if he had the time due to the location, its alone a motorway, and no other way of getting their as theres a river in the way.

I dont drive, so I cannot take him. He has no family who can take him, and my parents live 60 miles away...not very fair to ask them to come down two days a week to take him to work...

its the fact that other staff members get lifts into work no problem, but my husband cannot...but they wont even consider a site change although there is availability

And £350 a month to live off????? £90 council tax, £93 gas and electric, £50 water, £11 tv license, £100 in a loan repayment....this is without any of my other bills been considered and no food entitlement.....hmmm personally i dont think thats possible.

Emmzi

however, you have no recourse - your employer is doing nothing illegal. So, you need to pick one of the above options or find a new one. Sorry.

stephbond89

he may be doing anything illegal, but surely immoral??? he is giving other people lifts to work, but my husband gets no help despite us having a new born to support?