Change of location

Tesco_Tom

I am employed by a multi-national company and work out of a local business unit factory / office. The factory has announced that it will close later this year with the local workforce being made redundant.

While I am fortunate to not be directly impacted, I will now be required to work from home. What rights do I have in terms of accepting this change?

My contract states that my work location is "the factory address or within 10 mile radius". My house is within 10 miles, however can this really be considered as acceptable without challenge?

Working from home is not practical for me, so unless the policy changes I have nowhere to work. Can I be made redundant or apply for redundancy?

Any advice welcome

Undervalued

Tesco_Tom wrote: »

My contract states that my work location is "the factory address or within 10 mile radius". My house is within 10 miles, however can this really be considered as acceptable without challenge?

Working from home is not practical for me, so unless the policy changes I have nowhere to work. Can I be made redundant or apply for redundancy?

Any advice welcome

You will have an uphill battle if you want to challenge this.

Basically, your legal right is NOT to be made redundant unless there is no viable alternative. A forced move of 10 miles (and in many cases a lot further) would certainly be considered reasonable.

Also, for most people, working from home would give a significant saving in travelling expenses.

As a matter of interest, why is working from home "not practical"?

Tesco_Tom

Main reasons are due to lack of space at home and general disruption it will cause within the household.

I will have virtually no savings in travel expenses as my daughter and I share a car - she will still need it for commuting. I will have increased costs for heating, electric etc. and to be quite honest don't believe it will be a productive environment to work in.

This change is being imposed on me, so surely I have the right to refuse the change of terms?

Undervalued

Tesco_Tom wrote: »

This change is being imposed on me, so surely I have the right to refuse the change of terms?

No, probably not.

It is far easier than most people think for an employer to impose a change in terms and conditions. Ultimately, if you can't agree your only option is to resign and claim unfair dismissal. It would then be up to a tribunal to decide if the changes were reasonable. Based on what you have posted here I think you will struggle.

patman99

Are there any covenants on your house preventing you from running a business from the property ?. If so, then this can be used to levera the employer in to either making you redundant, or moving you to the nearest factory/office.

If no such covenant exists, then what is it about your job that makes it hard to work from home ?.

getmore4less

Work place assessment make them do one.

If there is no space where will the essential work related equipment go.

You will need new phone/internet.

What rent will you be charging them?

Undervalued

Even if you you could somehow argue that this amounts to redundancy (and I really do think you will struggle) statutory redundancy pay is not a great deal.

Obviously if you have worked there for a lot of years and would find it easy to get a similarly paid job elsewhere then it becomes more attractive.

Keep in mind too that you will have no security of employment for two years with a new job.

Tesco_Tom

Thanks for the responses. I need to investigate the covenant on the house, but don't believe there are any restrictions

There will be a number of us (6-8) that will be in forced to change work location. Some people are happy for this new home working arrangement, however others share my opinion and feel that the best solution is a rented office space at minimal annual cost.

Is there a standard calculation for expenses incurred due to home working? What items should I include in expenses or request additional payment for?

Home working is a more preferable option than redundancy, but feel it will be a stop gap until something else comes along.

theEnd

Tesco_Tom wrote: »

a multi-national company

I wonder who that is??

stevemLS

The HMRC standard is that for a tax allowance of up to £4 pw (£18PM) you can just claim it, anything over that you have to provide evidence for.

You won't be able to charge your employer rent.

Nor will you and your 6 colleagues be able to force your employer to establish a new office.

Your options have really already been spelt out for you.

Undervalued

Tesco_Tom wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. I need to investigate the covenant on the house, but don't believe there are any restrictions

There will be a number of us (6-8) that will be in forced to change work location. Some people are happy for this new home working arrangement, however others share my opinion and feel that the best solution is a rented office space at minimal annual cost.

Is there a standard calculation for expenses incurred due to home working? What items should I include in expenses or request additional payment for?

Home working is a more preferable option than redundancy, but feel it will be a stop gap until something else comes along.

You might be able to get together and persuade them to agree to something like this, who knows. Most things in life are negotiable particularly if you present a solution rather than a problem.

However if they won't and you refuse the offer of working from home your only remaining option is to resign. I think you will have very little chance of getting any redress.