Can boss force me to have a tracking device?

sw_jay

Hi.

My job forces me to drive a lot of miles to see clients. I use my own personal car for this and receive a monthly allowance from my employer for doing so. I am also provided with a fuel card so I don't have to pay for fuel.

I also use the car for personal journeys but these trips are infrequent and if going on a long journey I always pay for fuel myself as I would not expect my employer to cover the cost.

Recently my boss has fitted trackers into all the company vehicles so he can track where we are at any time, check we are doing what we're meant to and ensure that our mileage is correct.

He is now insisting that I allow him to place a tracker in my own car. There is nothing in my contract that says I must have a tracker in my own personal vehicle and I would rather not have one fitted.

I have nothing to hide whilst at work as I am completely open and transparent about where I am going and what I am doing. However what I am up to in my own time is quite frankly none of my boss's business and I don't see why he should have the right to track me when I am not at work.

I have a meeting with my employer in a few days to discuss this issue and would like to be armed with the knowledge of where I stand legally when I speak to him.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

spacey2012

Insist he will have to provide a company vehicle.
End of Argument.

If you read the post about someone who thought they were insured to use their car for working for a company you do not own , I would check your insurance as well.

Derwent

They can't force you to have one fitted but they could make it a condition of receiving a car allowance, i.e. change company policy to say that all people in receipt of a car allowance must have a tracker fitted. They could then stop paying you the allowance if you didn't comply with the policy.

spacey2012

To be 100% Honest when they start with this crap, it is usually a good point to start looking for another Job .

sw_jay

I wish it were as easy as insisting on a company vehicle or quitting my job. Lets face it good jobs are not easy to come by these days.

I feel like he has got me over a barrel. I bought the car with a loan which is financed by my allowance. I had a discussion with my boss at the time and we both agreed to do that as I needed something more reliable for work. It was never suggested then that I would have to put a tracker in the car.

If I insist on being provided with a company vehicle I will then be left with a car that I need to keep the payments up on, something I'm unable to afford. My boss knows this so can demand anything he wants.

patman99

I would ask whether you could also access the tracking info just in case your car is nicked. If so, then it could lead to cheaper insurance due to the extra security.

If the fitting of the device means you still get your car allowance, then I would run with it.

As for the people mentioning the insurance issue with you using your own car. A lot of companies (inc. the one I worked for up to 2010) had a commercial policy that covered any one using their own car for company business. All I needed to do was to provide them with a copy of my MOT and VED to prove the car was legal.

Bantex_2

sw_jay wrote: »

I wish it were as easy as insisting on a company vehicle or quitting my job. Lets face it good jobs are not easy to come by these days.

I feel like he has got me over a barrel. I bought the car with a loan which is financed by my allowance. I had a discussion with my boss at the time and we both agreed to do that as I needed something more reliable for work. It was never suggested then that I would have to put a tracker in the car.

If I insist on being provided with a company vehicle I will then be left with a car that I need to keep the payments up on, something I'm unable to afford. My boss knows this so can demand anything he wants.

You're not the president of France are you?

Prothet_of_Doom

It's actually YOUR car ?

or is it a lease ? (In which case modifications may not be allowed by leasing company anyway)

AND Does he think he pays for ALL your fuel?

I struggle with not having a mileage rate, that covers the fuel of say 25p a mile, given that you must pay NI and Tax on the car allowance, you could then claim the tax difference between 25p and 45p a mile.

I digress. What if you choose to use your wife's car. or the car is in for servicing and you have a hire car ?



The company has a health and safety responsibility to you when you are out on business, but I'd say that in order of priority an actual tracker comes down low. Higher up would be a policy on the number of hours you can work if it includes driving, how many stops you must make, sending you on a defencive driving course, checking your insurance covers business use, checking your licence (I heard of a guy with a company car, who was banned, but he didn't tell his employer, unless they instigated a policy of checking licences and he's been driving for 2 years since his conviction)

So what if you do have it fitted, and you speed ? Is he going to discipline you? What if you spend too long in the toilet at the services? What if you choose to take the scenic route home ? Why don't you ask him to go all the way and have a dash cam?

I'd have to accept that if it can be turned off when I'm not working, then tracking me, is something that suggests a paranoid boss, and I'd be looking to move, even based on a suggestion. I guess, that he could try to insist and that might result in a redundancy through failure to accept new terms of employment.

I can also see how you could make the devise pointless.
Suddenly start driving at 50 mph on the motorway, stopping for breaks (for which you claim expences) every hour or so, refusing to start any journey before your start time (I worked with a guy who if we went anywhere insisted he started at 8:15, and that was when he would be available to start the journey), use an alternative car, use the train, disconnect it, (chaff the wires), fill the box with brake fluid, oil, or antifreeze, book in for a trackday, drive at 120 mph. Sell the car and forget to remove it.

Prothet_of_Doom

sw_jay wrote: »

Lets face it good jobs are not easy to come by these days.

I bought the car with a loan which is financed by my allowance.

My boss knows this so can demand anything he wants.

Point 1) Yes but no. This would be my cue to start looking.
Point 2) Heinsight and all that. It's called a golden hand cuff perhaps ? I know it's a common practise these days, but I'd struggle with commitment of a financial nature. Where cars are concerned anyway.
Point 3) I've always seen work as a mutual joint partnership of exploitation. Don't assume that he doesn't have something to loose. Having worked out that failure to agree new written terms and conditions, his only option is to make you redundant, and recruit someone else to do your job. That will cost him, more that this change will save him, so whilst I'm not saying dig your heels in that far, I am saying keep explaining why you can not agree to his demands.

Vectis

Wow, a few of those replies are a shortcut to the dole queue.

Why not a conciliatory approach? You agree to have a tracker fitted but you must be able to switch it off out of work hours. I can't see a problem with that from either side.

Jamie_Carter

It seems that most posters seem to be taking the paranoid view that their employer is playing big brother. This may not be the case.


A tracking system makes logging mileage (for expense claims) far easier, and in many cases automated. They can also easily see who is closest to a client, so that they can send that person, and not have to contact loads of employees to find out who is the closest.


I used to use a tracking system so that if a client called to find out what time one of my employees would be with them, I could quickly check the tracker and give them a good idea, without having to bother my employees whilst they were driving.


As other have said, I would insist that you can turn the tracker off when you are not working.