Parking for work

almostinanewjob

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could shed some light on who is in the right here.

I work for a letting agency that has no pool car and so I have to use my own car to go to and from appointments.

The office is in the centre of town where you either have to pay for parking or there are 2/3 hour disc zones.

If I don't have appointments within 3 hours of each other, I will need to move my car to avoid being fined, but my boss is not happy with this.

Surely I cannot be expected to pay for parking when I have to have my car on hand to use it for business purposes?

Thank you

JJC1956

Time for a new job methinks, what does everyone else in the office do? Pay fines at leisure

almostinanewjob

Thank you for the swift response JJC1956.

Luckily I am leaving in a couple of weeks, but just had a clash with my boss about this today and my patience has worn thin by this point, so I thought I would see if I am the one in the wrong!

She is the MD, so pays for her own parking, my other colleague gets dropped off if she has a long time between appointments or does the same as me so it is a struggle!

oh_really

Leave your car parked out of town and use the bosses car for her business appointments. She's having her cake and eating it as things stand.
What does you boss realistically expect you to do at the moment?

Edit: just seen your leaving shortly - withdraw your car, insurance has lapsed, it being repaired or just outright its now no longer available.

almostinanewjob

Thank you for the answer, oh_really!

Unfortunately she is very tight and won't pay to have other people ensured on her car.

Very helpful to see I'm not the one looking at this the wrong way!

TELLIT01

You've definitely done the right thing in getting a new job.  Until you leave, either say your car isn't available or go out and move it before you get a ticket.  What's she going to do - sack you?

Thrugelmir

Buy a season ticket for a long stay car park? 

TBagpuss

almostinanewjob said:

Hello,

I was wondering if someone could shed some light on who is in the right here.

I work for a letting agency that has no pool car and so I have to use my own car to go to and from appointments.

The office is in the centre of town where you either have to pay for parking or there are 2/3 hour disc zones.

If I don't have appointments within 3 hours of each other, I will need to move my car to avoid being fined, but my boss is not happy with this.

Surely I cannot be expected to pay for parking when I have to have my car on hand to use it for business purposes?

Thank you

It depends on you contract and terms of employment. If you were employed on the basis that you were required to have your own transport and to use it for work, then you knew that going in and it's reasonable to expect you to make arrangements to ensure that you can manage that part of the job - if that means  paying for parking then that is your responsibility - you could have factored that in when negotiating your salary .

IF it was not clear that having a car was a requirement and that travelling was part of the job then the situation is different, and in those circumstances, at the point when you were asked to drive to other locations you would have been able to say that wasn't possible or to negotiate at that point for a raise to reflect the increased costs. 

Marcon

almostinanewjob said:

Thank you for the swift response JJC1956.

Luckily I am leaving in a couple of weeks, but just had a clash with my boss about this today and my patience has worn thin by this point, so I thought I would see if I am the one in the wrong!

Bit late to start this discussion - just move on and learn from it (i.e. if you're going to a similar job, check who pays for parking if there's no pool car).

Sandtree

almostinanewjob said:

Surely I cannot be expected to pay for parking when I have to have my car on hand to use it for business purposes?

Why not? Did you not realise estate agents use vehicles to get to and from viewings etc? Didnt do your checks on parking in the area when applying for the job?

You may be able to claim tax relief on the expenses given you are travelling to non-permanent places of work, though it may be a grey area given the actual parking is at the perm place of work. https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/travel-and-overnight-expenses 

HampshireH

It's a bit of a non issue if you are leaving but there are plenty of employers who do not provide parking or reimbursed parking for their employees.


Presumably this isn't a recent problem or have you just started and are now leaving