fixed penalty notice possible job loss?

flitemad

Hi, thanks for taking the time to read.

My boyfriend got a fixed penalty notice and 3 points added to his licence yesterday for using a mobile phone when driving.
He was in a works van at the time and speaking with head office (they knew he was driving).
My question is this...could he loose his job over this? His boss refused to speak to him yesterday when he called him.
Myself and my boyfriend are very worried now about the situation. He has been working for the company for around 5 months and driving is a large part of his job.
Just to add, he had a clean licence prior to this and has not been disqualified.

Thanks again for reading.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

what is company policy about using phone whilst driving, should he have pulled over, if safe to do so?

flitemad

Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply. He has never been told about the company policy of using mobile phones whilst driving. Im guessing that it should (rightly) not be allowed. No it was not safe to stop and take the call. The call was of importance about the job he was travelling to.He accepts he has broke the law and accepts the notice.

paddedjohn

3 points on a clean licence shouldnt mean his job is in peril.

John_3:16

This will be all down to company policy. "Although he was not told" is not really a defense. The policy will be written and available for him to see. Most people just cannot be bothered to read these policies.

The company will have a policy about points on a licence, and usely 3 points would be ok. however it is down to the company concerned. Did his job discrition and application say he needed a clean licence?

Emmzi

It's likely he'll get a ticking off. 3 points won't stop him driving the works van again.

Buy him a hands free earpiece etc asap.

LittleVoice

If he has not lost his licence then, as you know, he can still legally do his job involving driving.

The only possible real problem for the employer is if, for insurance purposes, a clean licence is required for all their drivers or if having points on one driver's licence increases the premium substantially. These days I would be surprised if either of those were the case.

By the way, was it a work mobile phone or a personal one?

[Deleted User]

Hi,

well good thing is he is still able to drive, would've been worse if the 3 points had put him over.

The fact that company phoned him, knowing he was driving to a job, are partly to blame.

What if he had ignored the call, and phoned back when he got to the job, how would company react then?

Mind you, call might've been to say job cancelled, and if he had traveled 100 miles or so, company would'nt be happy.

flitemad

Thanks to everyone for reading/replying.
I have just looked through his paper work there is no company policy on taking calls when driving, (he has all company policies ect in there lol) so there either isn't one or its hasn't been made avalible to him. It is a personal phone which he also uses for work.The call was letting him know the job was cancelled, he would have driven for over 200 miles if he ignored the call and the company wouldn't have been very happy about the fuel he would have wasted. I am going to go and buy him a hands free kit as soon as i finish work today...Will have to check which kind it is he can use. I am a little less worried about him loosing his job now, but still not to sure because of the way the boss put the phone down on him and refused to accept any calls. Thanks for replying.

scheming_gypsy

The company policy on driving will be the same one covered by the law: it's illegal and don't do it unless you're using a hands free kit.
He should have been using a hands free kit, pulled over to answer or ignored it and pulled over when he could and called them back. His boss is probably one of those people who thinks that everybody who uses a phone when driving WILL kill somebody everytime they do it, so he was pulling his face. All your boyfriend needs to do is tell HR that he's picked up 3 points so they can tell the insurance company (if needed) and get a hands free kit, and that's about it.

saintjammyswine

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

well good thing is he is still able to drive, would've been worse if the 3 points had put him over.

The fact that company phoned him, knowing he was driving to a job, are partly to blame.

What if he had ignored the call, and phoned back when he got to the job, how would company react then?

Mind you, call might've been to say job cancelled, and if he had traveled 100 miles or so, company would'nt be happy.

There is no fault whatsoever with the company. They phoned him, he answered illegally. Sorry but a pet hate of mine and you are lucky you are not getting a call from a traffic officer.