Mileage Reimbursement

liam92_2

Hi

I work as a p/t bank clerk (Saturdays only) at a branch in a small town and have done so for around 4 years.

For the first 3 years, I only ever worked at my base branch, however ever since around 18 months ago, my manager has asked me to cover at another office (around 16 miles from my base branch,) which I've done.

Seeing as I do not drive, I have mainly taken the train to travel to the other branch (for which the ticket is reimbursed in expenses), however on occasion have been given a lift by a friend (who works in the town the other branch is in.)

Up until recently, my manager was happy to pay the mileage for the lift from my friend, however a month or so ago, I was told that I can only claim mileage back if I personally have driven.

Is this correct or am I being fed a load of hot air?!

And, secondly, I've been having a discussion with another friend (who dabbles in employment law) and she believes I should be paid for the additional time taken to travel to the other office (compared to the time taken to travel to my base.)

(My contract says that on occasions I may be required to travel to another place of work at other branches as directed by my manager.)

Thanks in advance for any advice

DVardysShadow

I would say it is a load of hot air. The entitlement to expenses arises from the journey, not from whether or not you got a lift. If they would pay you for driving yourself, then they have no sensible basis to decline the expense for a lift. Is the lift cheaper than the train? If it is, I would make sure I went be train if it were me.

liam92_2

Thanks very much for your reply DVardysShadow.

The lift would work out as more expensive than the train.

And should I be reimbursed for the extra time it takes me to travel to other offices compared to my base office, as surely this is purely another form of expense?

Finally one more thing, I am contracted to work 09.00-17.00 (pretty standard) however we are specifically told to arrive for 08.45 and often do not end up leaving until 17.10 or so. Should we be paid for this time at the beginning and end of the working day, when we are opening/cashing up tills etc??

DVardysShadow

bennyboy92 wrote: »

... The lift would work out as more expensive than the train.

Then it would be reasonable to cap the expenses at the train fare level, but not to refuse expenses if you had a lift rather than drive yourself.

real1314

Do you actually pay the friend for the lift?

How much do you pay?

Does the friend have insurance to receive reward for taking passengers?


You can be re-imbursed for expenses you have actually incurred that are in line with legal obligations. All your friend could really ask you to pay is a contribution to costs, priobably in the region of 10p a mile, if they haven't got appropriate insurance etc. :cool:

Savvy_Sue

bennyboy92 wrote: »

And, secondly, I've been having a discussion with another friend (who dabbles in employment law) and she believes I should be paid for the additional time taken to travel to the other office (compared to the time taken to travel to my base.)

(My contract says that on occasions I may be required to travel to another place of work at other branches as directed by my manager.)

I think it could be discretionary: companies I've worked for would do this, eg if we had to go to Head Office for training we could add the time difference between 'normal' travel to work and 'training' travel to work to the hours spend actually training on our timesheets.

Worth asking ...

bennyboy92 wrote: »

Finally one more thing, I am contracted to work 09.00-17.00 (pretty standard) however we are specifically told to arrive for 08.45 and often do not end up leaving until 17.10 or so. Should we be paid for this time at the beginning and end of the working day, when we are opening/cashing up tills etc??

Do those extra minutes take your hourly pay below NMW? If not, then however much one might feel you 'should' be paid for them, it's probably not going to happen.

System

I would expect the company to have a policy where business cover is needed on vehicle insurance to claim mileage. Have you got an vehicle policy that has this?

ohreally

bennyboy92 wrote: »

however on occasion have been given a lift by a friend (who works in the town the other branch is in.)

The driver should be claiming an additional allowance where this applies (in addition to her own mileage allowance).

LittleVoice

ohreally wrote: »

The driver should be claiming an additional allowance where this applies (in addition to her own mileage allowance).

I don't think the driver has any right to claim for taking this passenger (other than to ask the OP for a contribution towards extra petrol costs arising from having another person in the car).

The driver simply works in the other town: they do not work for the same employer.

ohreally

LittleVoice wrote: »

The driver simply works in the other town: they do not work for the same employer.

My bad, i miss-read that.

liam92_2

Hey

Thanks for all replies so far.

So, re the travelling time, should I be paid the extra time? Any more input would be much appreciated. My manager told me last year they do not pay travel time - is it worth asking again, or should I speak to HR at Head Office? Is there an internet source (i.e direct.gov) that anyone can kindly point me to on this subject?)

My contract stipulates that I may be required to cover at other offices as directed by my manager. We are reimbursed mileage/train fare so surely time is merely another type of travel expense!

And, are there any others on here in my kind of situation who religiously arrive at 08.45 to log onto our tills ready for 9am and often don't leave until 17.10-17.15; thereby working unpaid for 30 mins each day? I'm paid to work from 9am - 5pm, so surely I should arrive to start work at 9am.'