Office move will cost me around £250 extra a month... rights?

Bexm

Hi

My employer who I have worked for for 10 years are talking about moving to a new location.
This is 20 miles from the current location, it's logical and will be more central and closer for most others members of staff. (in the last few yrs we've had quite a large staff turn around and people further away have joined.)
For me it will add an extra 25 mins to my journey each way meaning I will need to send my kids to the child minder half an hour earlier each day and finish work half an hour earlier to be able to pick them up.
The lost wage, extra child care and extra petrol comes to about £250 A MONTH!!

If the move happens my employers are unlikely to care about the cost to me.. so I am wondering if anyone knows if I have any rights before I talk to them or try and find another job?

Thanks Bex

Ms_Chocaholic

What is your current commute time/distance?
Could you work part of your lunch hour to minimise your reduction in hours.
Could you find alternative employment closer to home.

I was listening to Chris Evans breakfast show on the way to work this morning and some listeners say they travel 150 miles round trip to work and back each day. Luckily mine isn't anywhere near that but just wanted to put it into perspective.

Bexm

I live in quite rural Wales, hence the reason I've been with my employer so long.
Not many jobs in my industry around (and they known it!!!)
My current commute is 20mins and I only get half hour lunch so can't really take any away.

dlmcr

What does it say in your contract about usual work location?


I very much doubt that 20 miles / 25 mins would be considered excessive. As you say yourself the majority of staff would benefit, and clearly the company as a whole would benefit or they wouldn't be proposing the move. You are right, your employer is unlikely to be interested in the uplift to your personal commute costs. Don't take this the wrong way but if you were one of the people benefiting with a shorter commute as a result of these changes would you be on here posting about what you could do about it?

Savvy_Sue

they might be prepared to pay something towards your additional costs for a fixed period, say one or two years. And it's worth thinking about whether that cost would be worth bearing: the children won't need a childminder for ever, for example.

Would a flexible working request be worth considering? Could you, for example, work from home once a week, or work longer hours on fewer days?

the other thing you might consider is whether it would be worth moving nearer the new location.

And is there any mileage in the children's other parent also working more flexibly?

Bexm

I shall check my contract.
I know.. obviously I wouldn't say anything if it was benefiting me, just worrying about it as barely getting by as it is due to various other things and losing 250 is going to be bad! I was very surprised when I worked out quite how much it was.

Blatchford

20 miles is highly unlikely to be deemed unacceptable in law, but only an employment tribunal can decide that. Usually the measure is around 90 minutes /50 miles each way. As others have said, you could ask for some extra help with travel, or for flexibility, but the additional costs of childcare aren't likely to be something the employer will compensate. And if the employer offers anything, that is voluntary. I'd have to say that I wouldn't consider this remotely close to a redundancy.

It is worth thinking, as a last resort, about asking for flexible working / a reduction in hours for a temporary period. The children won't need a child minder for ever, so you could just cut back a few hours per week. Better a slightly reduced income than none at all, especially if jobs are scarce.

ohreally

Unlikely to be a contractual issue, do they have a policy document to refer to. Personally worked in places where the site had been moved and the employer has paid excess mileage travelling expenses to affected employees for 4 years.

This was unionised workplaces.

getmore4less

What outcome do you want?

Auto redundancy situation,
The main question is is the new location/offer going to be a suitable alternative.

At the group level the distance/time from the current location would not automatically be unsuitable, any other changes to the jobs?

You could try to create a not a suitable alternative case for you.
probably best to include suggestions that would make it suitable(help with finances, adjusted working etc.)


They could say no, it is suitable as is you then need to decide if you want to take the offer or dispute that.

Or they could just agree and make you redundant, would any payout compensate for no job.


You know the place and how flexible they are, it is not unknown for places to look at the big picture and just let people go with a payout rather than deals with each individuals needs.

It would be easy enough to include a few redundancies within the move to offload people they don't want to keep.

TELLIT01

Our office relocated about 30 miles and we were told that was where the job is, take it or leave it. There was no suggestion that redundancy would be offered. Some organisations will offer short term payments to help soften the blow, but that is generally only for a matter of months.

Bexm

Thanks all.
I shall have to speak to them and just see what happens..
Maybe it's time for a career change anyway
After childcare and travel expenses Id only have £100 a month left.. not really much point!
How people survive when they are on their own I have no idea!