Can my company do this!!!

lanesend

Hi

Can anyone tell me if my company can implement this?:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Your Regional Manager may have recently held a meeting with you to discuss working hours; firstly I wanted to thank everyone who took part in those meetings and to acknowledge the large portion of employees who are already adhering to the guidelines of their contract of employment and hours of work.
The following message was delivered to field operatives to underpin the understanding of working hours as outlined in your contract of employment; we have sought advice over the application of this definition from ACAS as well as several employment advice agencies who have verified our understanding to be correct.
For field operatives, your contract of employment states that your hours of work are normally between 08:00 – 18:00 Monday to Friday. The company define working hours as arriving on-site for 8am and leaving your last site at 6pm. Therefore travel time to your first site and from your last site is not considered working time; we recognise that travel between sites is considered working time.
The company acknowledge that a degree of common sense does need to apply to this rule as it must be applied within what is deemed reasonable; therefore the company add the following clause;
If the first site or last site is more than 45 minutes away from your home then the remainder of the journey may be considered working time.
An example:
Joe Blogg’s first site is 1 hour away from his home
He sets off at 7.15am and arrives at 8.15am; therefore 45 minutes travel is his own time and 15 minutes of working time

Joe’s last site is 15 minutes away from his home
He leaves his last site at 18:00 (as per his contract of employment) and is home for 18:15

I trust this makes clear your working hours, it is important that you uphold your contractual agreement and that failure to do so could result in disciplinary action, if you are in any doubt please contact your Regional Manager.:(

kai666

What's the problem? Seems more than reasonable to me. Wish I could claim for travelling over 45 minutes to work

Oldernotwiser

It sounds more than reasonable to me. Allowing you to claim any travel to work time over 45 minutes seems exceptionally generous.

gingerdad

seems resonable to me, my staff start and finish at home and i would expect them to be at there first call around 0830 and finsih at the last at 1700 (which is there normal working day).

the 45 minute rule seems reasonable as well. i guess they haven't been enforcing it in the past

lanesend

I would agree with you but we have always been paid for travel from leaving home to getting home again. I work from home and drive a company van.
I and my fellow colleagues do not agree with this.

alisonmeyers

45 minutes is quite reasonable in my opinion. what did you change that you're wondering if they can "do" - what did they actually *change*?

liney

lanesend wrote: »

I would agree with you but we have always been paid for travel from leaving home to getting home again. I work from home and drive a company van.
I and my fellow colleagues do not agree with this.

Do your vans have tracking devices? I am guessing the company suspect an abuse of overtime claims ie - "Didn't get home 'till 7pm, terrible traffic Guv..."

p00hsticks

lanesend wrote: »

I would agree with you but we have always been paid for travel from leaving home to getting home again. I work from home and drive a company van.
I and my fellow colleagues do not agree with this.

What does your contract of employment say on the subject ? (re base location, working hours and travel time ?)

stephyt23

Nothing wrong with that. Some people travel further than that and don't get paid.

lanesend

Hi

yes our vans and pda's have always had trackers. We clock in and out on the pda. I have always worked my contracted hours and more.Overtime is paid at single time.

liney

lanesend wrote: »

Hi

yes our vans and pda's have always had trackers. We clock in and out on the pda. I have always worked my contracted hours and more.Overtime is paid at single time.

I'd dig my contract out and call up ACAS or CAB. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me to be honest, but I would check that it can be implemented based on the wording of your contract.