Remote Working and Travel Expenses?

akira181

I recently got a new job and I start in 3 weeks. The job was advertised as remote working with occasional travel into the office. In the interview, the same thing was confirmed, I made it clear relocation was not an option. Regardless, they've asked me to relocate 3 times so far.

I received the contract and it has Blackburn down as my home site.

I've asked them to double check this as I applied for a remote role; they replied saying the expectation is that most of my work will be performed from home and have the occasional visit to site and Blackburn is my home site.

I live in Glasgow, a 3.5 hour drive one way. A 7 hour commute plus a working day is unworkable for more than a 1 off trip. So if I need to be down for multiple days, I would be getting a hotel. However, as they consider Blackburn to be my home site, no expenses are reimbursed.

If the bulk of my work is to be done from home, should my home site not be Home/Remote and not Blackburn?

born_again

akira181 said:

I recently got a new job and I start in 3 weeks. The job was advertised as remote working with occasional travel into the office. In the interview, the same thing was confirmed, I made it clear relocation was not an option. Regardless, they've asked me to relocate 3 times so far.

I received the contract and it has Blackburn down as my home site.

I've asked them to double check this as I applied for a remote role; they replied saying the expectation is that most of my work will be performed from home and have the occasional visit to site and Blackburn is my home site.

I live in Glasgow, a 3.5 hour drive one way. A 7 hour commute plus a working day is unworkable for more than a 1 off trip. So if I need to be down for multiple days, I would be getting a hotel. However, as they consider Blackburn to be my home site, no expenses are reimbursed.

If the bulk of my work is to be done from home, should my home site not be Home/Remote and not Blackburn?

I think you have misunderstood what they were saying.
You should have realised that if the office is in Blackburn, this would be your home site. You were going to have to travel to the office as required.
Which you would not get expenses for. 

So your choice, either relocate or you will have to take the hit on travel & accommodation costs. Given what they stated in the interview.
Or now turn the job down.

Quite common. With covid we were all home based. many moved further from office, asking if that was OK. Now we have to do 60% in the office. These that moved are not happy, but at no point was anyone ever told remote working was going to be 100% in the future.

tizerbelle

Push back. 

Explain that you will not be relocating nor will you be working from Blackburn as explained previously and as such you need a contract that clearly states that your home is your normal work location and that expenses incurred when attending company locations will be reimbursed.  Also check that there isn't a mobility clause in the contract either (as that could be used against you in the future)

Be clear, without these agreements being made in writing before you start, you won't be starting

DullGreyGuy

A person can have more than one "regular place of work" and any travel to your regular place of work from home counts as commuting and so if they were to pay for it then it wouldn't be expenses but additional pay and attract normal taxes for being so. The HMRC handbook defines it:

• is frequent
• follows a pattern
• is for all or almost all of the period for which they hold or are likely to hold that employment

So if you have to go to Blackburn for the fortnightly team meeting that would make it a regular place of work 

akira181 said:

I recently got a new job and I start in 3 weeks. The job was advertised as remote working with occasional travel into the office. In the interview, the same thing was confirmed, I made it clear relocation was not an option. 

You say it was confirmed in the interview so what sort of frequency? Is there a pattern to it or is it just ad hoc? 

Presumably you asked about reimbursement of expenses? Did they say yes?

akira181

born_again said:

Quite common. With covid we were all home based. many moved further from office, asking if that was OK. Now we have to do 60% in the office. These that moved are not happy, but at no point was anyone ever told remote working was going to be 100% in the future.

That's not the same at all. It's not a hybrid role where I'm X days a week/month in the office or a temporary switch to WFH. This job was advertised as remote and confirmed to be such. It's a fully remote job so my home is my regular place of work, the office is "occasional, as needed", i.e. not frequent

tizerbelle said:

Push back. 

Explain that you will not be relocating nor will you be working from Blackburn as explained previously and as such you need a contract that clearly states that your home is your normal work location and that expenses incurred when attending company locations will be reimbursed.  Also check that there isn't a mobility clause in the contract either (as that could be used against you in the future)

Be clear, without these agreements being made in writing before you start, you won't be starting

I've told them relocation is not on the table each time, and they seem to be ok with it but they keep asking. 

The issue is that I want the job, it's a pretty good one, so I don't want to push back too hard. As long as the travel is occasional as they claim (ad hoc, no regular meetings, etc), then I can live with it. 

Just surprising that they say the majority of my work will be done from home but consider Blackburn office my regular place of work, despite saying any visits are occasional as needed.

DullGreyGuy said:

You say it was confirmed in the interview so what sort of frequency? Is there a pattern to it or is it just ad hoc? 

Presumably you asked about reimbursement of expenses? Did they say yes?

They confirmed it was fully remote with occasional when needed, such as collecting my IT equipment, training, etc. There was no mention of regular meetings, X days a week/month. Just as needed.

I asked about expenses and they said they would not be reimbursed as Blackburn is considered my home site. They also stated that the expectation is for me to perform most of my work from home with the occasional visit "to keep my laptop updated to their network".

If most of my work is expected to be done at home with occasional site visits, surely my home is my Regular place of work and not Blackburn and expenses should be reimbursed?

Also, if the office is not my regular place of work, should the commute, or part of it, be considered working time? I would be doing a 8 hour day in the office with a 7 hour commute otherwise. 

Again, occasional long days and some small expenses from travel aren't a deal breaker, I want the job, as long as travel is occasional, like every other month at most. I'm just wondering if I should push back and see if they will update the contract to have my home as the regular place of work and not their office, since that's more accurate to what they're saying the job is.

oldernonethewiser

Might be worth your while giving ACAS a call and see what advice they can give.

0300 123 1100

Open from 08:00-18:00 Monday - Friday

Be prepared to hang on the line for a long time before you get to chat to someone.

akira181

I called ACAS but they're quite non-committal in their advice. They say any new contract should be accurate to your working conditions and you should challenge them if you don't feel it is accurate. If the majority of your work is to be done from home and it's a remote role, then it probably should be in the contract somewhere.

The only place remote working has been reflected in writing is via email. 

They're a very large company and their contract seems to be quite cut & paste generic. Once document of generic T&Cs that refers back to a second one page document with my job details in it.

oldernonethewiser

akira181 said:

I called ACAS but they're quite non-committal in their advice. They say any new contract should be accurate to your working conditions and you should challenge them if you don't feel it is accurate. If the majority of your work is to be done from home and it's a remote role, then it probably should be in the contract somewhere.

The only place remote working has been reflected in writing is via email. 

They're a very large company and their contract seems to be quite cut & paste generic. Once document of generic T&Cs that refers back to a second one page document with my job details in it.

That seems sensible and I would ask your potential new employer to draw up a contract with this in mind.

Will they though?

What will you do if they don't?

FlorayG

I live in West Somerset and my 'home' office is in Holborn, London
I work from home 99% of the time and go to 'the office' twice a year for meetings and laptop updates
I am certainly not expected to go there regularly and I do get expenses when I go
I think you need to ask your new employer to clarify; if your job is clearly 'remote working' they may have the same expectations as does mine

akira181

oldernonethewiser said:

That seems sensible and I would ask your potential new employer to draw up a contract with this in mind.

Will they though?

What will you do if they don't?

I can only ask but I don't want to be rocking the boat and giving my line manager a bad impression before I've even started!

If they don't, as long as the travel is occasional as they claim, it's not a deal breaker. To me, the job is worth more than the occasional expense/inconvenience.

If I didn't care for the job so much, I would be kicking up more of a stink.

oldernonethewiser

akira181 said:

oldernonethewiser said:

That seems sensible and I would ask your potential new employer to draw up a contract with this in mind.

Will they though?

What will you do if they don't?

I can only ask but I don't want to be rocking the boat and giving my line manager a bad impression before I've even started!

If they don't, as long as the travel is occasional as they claim, it's not a deal breaker. To me, the job is worth more than the occasional expense/inconvenience.

If I didn't care for the job so much, I would be kicking up more of a stink.

Your future line manager may have little or no knowledge of the contract if this is all being handled by an HR department.

I can understand the reluctance to rock the boat but there is no harm in asking for written confirmation that your base is your home it might save some grief later on.