Advice Needed - New Job

atlantis187

I have just got a  new job with an estate agents working 40 hours a week 8 hours a day over 5 days.

when I got the job I was told I would be mainly doing viewings in my own local city and maybe some in the surrounding cities.
recently the work has really picked up and they are sending us further to other cities.

example If my shift starts at 9am they are booking appointments 1 hour away from me so meaning I would have to leave my house at 8am that 1 hour travel time would be unpaid.
The viewings are in different places all the time and I am possibly doing and extra 6 hours a week due to travelling to all these places which is unpaid.

Is there any rules around this how much an employer can reasonably ask u to travel when u don’t work at a fixed place?

atlantis187

The contract doesn’t mention anything about travel it just says we can ask u to work from 8am till 8pm it also states my place of work will be my home when no appointments are booked in.
I am still in the probationary period and u are right might not be a good idea to rock the boat 
but I still think it’s wrong

McKneff

Millions of people commute more than an hour there and back every working day of their life. 
Good luck with your new job.

74jax

atlantis187 said:

I have just got a  new job with an estate agents working 40 hours a week 8 hours a day over 5 days.

when I got the job I was told I would be mainly doing viewings in my own local city and maybe some in the surrounding cities.
recently the work has really picked up and they are sending us further to other cities.

example If my shift starts at 9am they are booking appointments 1 hour away from me so meaning I would have to leave my house at 8am that 1 hour travel time would be unpaid.
The viewings are in different places all the time and I am possibly doing and extra 6 hours a week due to travelling to all these places which is unpaid.

Is there any rules around this how much an employer can reasonably ask u to travel when u don’t work at a fixed place?

All estate agents I have worked at have not paid for travel from home to work. However when in new build, that can be negotiated and most often is paid for.

Do you have a company car? Mobile?  If not make sure your insurance covers you. 

I would always 'report on' when outside my first viewing and then 'report off' afterwards (H&S). I never used my own mobile, always had a company phone and personal alarm.

In your previous job did you get paid for travelling to work as its not the norm, and just wondering if your change in career and finding this out is maybe just something you didn't consider?

Once you have started your first viewing, are you paid for the travel from then that day? 

atlantis187

74jax said:

atlantis187 said:

I have just got a  new job with an estate agents working 40 hours a week 8 hours a day over 5 days.

when I got the job I was told I would be mainly doing viewings in my own local city and maybe some in the surrounding cities.
recently the work has really picked up and they are sending us further to other cities.

example If my shift starts at 9am they are booking appointments 1 hour away from me so meaning I would have to leave my house at 8am that 1 hour travel time would be unpaid.
The viewings are in different places all the time and I am possibly doing and extra 6 hours a week due to travelling to all these places which is unpaid.

Is there any rules around this how much an employer can reasonably ask u to travel when u don’t work at a fixed place?

All estate agents I have worked at have not paid for travel from home to work. However when in new build, that can be negotiated and most often is paid for.

Do you have a company car? Mobile?  If not make sure your insurance covers you. 

I would always 'report on' when outside my first viewing and then 'report off' afterwards (H&S). I never used my own mobile, always had a company phone and personal alarm.

In your previous job did you get paid for travelling to work as its not the norm, and just wondering if your change in career and finding this out is maybe just something you didn't consider?

Once you have started your first viewing, are you paid for the travel from then that day? 

We are given a company phone, fuel card and car allowance.
yes they do consider travel time between appointments during the working day.

In my previous job I was based in the same city and it wasn’t a problem.

I wouldn’t mind a little travel say I start at 9 and my first appointment is at 9am in my city, this is okay to me. The problem is them paying us from 9am and expecting us to get to our first appointment 9am in another city which could take an hour to get there.
this week alone I have worked 5 extra hours unpaid at beginning and end of the day in travel time having to drive all over the place.

74jax

Jillanddy said:

74jax said:

atlantis187 said:

I have just got a  new job with an estate agents working 40 hours a week 8 hours a day over 5 days.

when I got the job I was told I would be mainly doing viewings in my own local city and maybe some in the surrounding cities.
recently the work has really picked up and they are sending us further to other cities.

example If my shift starts at 9am they are booking appointments 1 hour away from me so meaning I would have to leave my house at 8am that 1 hour travel time would be unpaid.
The viewings are in different places all the time and I am possibly doing and extra 6 hours a week due to travelling to all these places which is unpaid.

Is there any rules around this how much an employer can reasonably ask u to travel when u don’t work at a fixed place?

All estate agents I have worked at have not paid for travel from home to work. However when in new build, that can be negotiated and most often is paid for.

With the greatest of respect, what your former employers did doesn't make it law. We don't have enough clear information to be sure of the legal position. And the OPs position suggests that it is a stark choice.  But what bad employers do,  law or not,  isn't an example to follow

Sorry, yes I know that, I was just trying to say if it is estate agency, it's more unusual to be paid to commute to work, but if it's new build its pretty much accepted (and a strong point that sales advisors and site teams negotiate over). 

If the op was in the new build sector then I would have definately advised pushing this (if a top 5) not in a bad way that would rock the boat but it is very accepted so not a big deal to bring up. However I do think its more the general estate agency sector unfortunately. 

74jax

atlantis187 said:

74jax said:

atlantis187 said:

I have just got a  new job with an estate agents working 40 hours a week 8 hours a day over 5 days.

when I got the job I was told I would be mainly doing viewings in my own local city and maybe some in the surrounding cities.
recently the work has really picked up and they are sending us further to other cities.

example If my shift starts at 9am they are booking appointments 1 hour away from me so meaning I would have to leave my house at 8am that 1 hour travel time would be unpaid.
The viewings are in different places all the time and I am possibly doing and extra 6 hours a week due to travelling to all these places which is unpaid.

Is there any rules around this how much an employer can reasonably ask u to travel when u don’t work at a fixed place?

All estate agents I have worked at have not paid for travel from home to work. However when in new build, that can be negotiated and most often is paid for.

Do you have a company car? Mobile?  If not make sure your insurance covers you. 

I would always 'report on' when outside my first viewing and then 'report off' afterwards (H&S). I never used my own mobile, always had a company phone and personal alarm.

In your previous job did you get paid for travelling to work as its not the norm, and just wondering if your change in career and finding this out is maybe just something you didn't consider?

Once you have started your first viewing, are you paid for the travel from then that day? 

We are given a company phone, fuel card and car allowance.
yes they do consider travel time between appointments during the working day.

In my previous job I was based in the same city and it wasn’t a problem.

I wouldn’t mind a little travel say I start at 9 and my first appointment is at 9am in my city, this is okay to me. The problem is them paying us from 9am and expecting us to get to our first appointment 9am in another city which could take an hour to get there.
this week alone I have worked 5 extra hours unpaid at beginning and end of the day in travel time having to drive all over the place.

Do you have any say over your diary? Are the appointments booked in from a central (outsourced) department or is it a local office? Could you maybe block out the first 15 minutes of the day, so your commute is 45 mins and you are then travelling for 15mins of work time? Does the booking office know where you are travelling from (roughly?). 

I'm guessing you know the day before where you are the following day as you have to collect keys etc, do you have any flexibility to call viewers to check they are still attending etc and maybe ask if they can attend at 9.15 rather than 9?

Just trying to think of ways to maybe push the first appointment back. 

atlantis187

We don't have any control over the diary it is done centrally by someone who literally sits in an office and has no idea how far any of these places are from each other.
I do know the appointments for the following day beforehand but it is not possible to ring the person and ask them to come 15/20 minutes later as this will eat into the travelling time for the next appointment.

This is really depressing me whilst i'm grateful for this job and do really enjoy it feels that they are not being flexible and not willing to listen to suggestions for better ways of working.

74jax

atlantis187 said:

We don't have any control over the diary it is done centrally by someone who literally sits in an office and has no idea how far any of these places are from each other.
I do know the appointments for the following day beforehand but it is not possible to ring the person and ask them to come 15/20 minutes later as this will eat into the travelling time for the next appointment.

This is really depressing me whilst i'm grateful for this job and do really enjoy it feels that they are not being flexible and not willing to listen to suggestions for better ways of working.

Do you have any training planned? Or any shadows days? Could you mention it then? 
I know you are in probation so what is the situation with a mentor, is that an option, to book in a 1-2-1 to discuss generally how things are going. 
Other than this, how is everything else. Do you feel supported in other aspects so you really just want to iron out the commute time?

atlantis187

this is a new role they have created and we are the first ones 'guinne pigs' u can call it to see how it will run.
They did say give feedback as you go along but the problem is when I do they don't want to take it on board and it seems like me always suggesting better ways of working and the other people are happy to go along with whatever (maybe because they are younger and scared to say ought I have been in the workplace more longer). I don't want it to come across like a winger who is always 'complaining'.

there are no mentor or any 121 with any manager. all they say is put it on the group chat if  issues that come up.

TELLIT01

Just because they are happy for staff to make suggestions doesn't mean they will either agree with the suggestions or implement any or all of them.  The OP believing they are always suggesting better ways of working doesn't mean other agree that they are an improvement.

Aside from that, the OP needs to ensure they have business cover if using their own car.  Many insurance policies will cover basic travel to place of work, but not anything beyond that.