Office relocation - what to do?

Haggisman

Haggisman

Haggisman

Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
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Location
Birmingham
I've recently found out that the office I'm working in is closing, and moving to a new location. Just wanting to find out my rights and how others would approach this?

It's not a straightforward situation, I'm currently working full time on a customer's site, and have been for the past year (I was originally told it would only be for 3 months, but that's another story...), this site is 40 miles from home on the outskirts of another city, and currently takes me ~60-75 mins to drive each way with"normal" traffic (can be up to 3 hours if there's a big crash which happens about once a month).

My employer's normal office is 3 miles from home and takes 10-15 mins to get in. I'm paid for my mileage expenses to get to the customer's site, but not the extra 2 hours/day it takes me to commute. I don't mind this so much, as I'm gaining a lot of valuable experience from working on the customer's systems, so it seems a fair(ish) tradeoff.

The relocation is to the centre of the city, so not a huge distance, but from talking to the local employees of the customer I work with, they reckon an extra 45-60 mins purely due to the traffic, so ~2 hours each way.

To compound that problem, I need to pick up my son from the childminder at 5.30pm, this means leaving the office at 3.30 to be on the safe side. This has the knock on effect of me having to start at 7.30, meaning have to leave my house at ~5.30am.

I'm pretty sure my contract has a mobility clause which covers "reasonable" moves (need to dig it out to make sure), but this doesn't seem "reasonable" to me.

I've had a very quick chat with my boss about it, just saying I'm not happy and I don't feel it's reasonable, he's going to have a preliminary look at the options (potentially me working remotely from my employer's office), but I'm concerned that the customer isn't going to be happy with that, and want me in the office at least a couple of days a week.

So, I wanted to find out what my rights/position would be if I refuse based on the 4 hours extra "working" I'd be doing per day, along with the stress of sitting in traffic for that time, not to mention having to get up at stupid o'clock in the morning.

Would refusing be classed as "breach of contract" based on the mobility clause in my contract? Or do you think these changes would be seen as unreasonable, meaning my employer would have to make me redundant?

I'd prefer that the above doesn't happen, as (imo) my employer are a good company to work for, and this relocation isn't really any of their fault.

I guess the other option is that I "deal with it", but try and get some kind of other compensation - e.g. overtime, or time off in lieu to compensate for the travel time. I'm not sure how that would go down however, as my expenses will be in the region of £60/day as it is for mileage and parking.

The alternative of course would be to "accept" the changes, whilst starting to look for a new job, but really, this would be a "no other option" choice.

It wouldn't be such a big deal if I was paid a huge amount, but I'm only just over the national average, and to be honest the impact on my quality of life isn't going to be worth the money as it is currently. I did a 1.5 hour commute for 18 months, and was tired and depressed all the time - I moved to my current house because of how close it was to the office; if I wanted to do an hour's commute I would have moved to a nicer, bigger house in the countryside an hour away! :p

TL;DR version:

Customer's site I'm working at is moving a short distance but long time away.
I'll be paid travel expenses, but what rights* do I have to either ask for more money to cover my travel time, or to refuse to travel?

What would you do in my situation?

*Edit: I realise I obviously have the "right" to ask for more money for whatever reason; more interested in what to use to back it up?
 
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Choices are stay or go. Public transport or drive if you stay.

Some of the London commuters would put your new travel hours to shame and that is not taking into account the stupid inconsistencies.
 
Zogger said:
take the train?
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The earliest train from my local station doesn't get in till 7.45, and to get home in time I'd have to leave the office at 3.15, so I'd be working for an hour less/day.

To get in at 7am by public transport, I'd have to leave my house at 4.45am and take 2 buses and a train. At that point I might as well just take a sleeping bag to the office and spend the night under my desk.

I guess that would solve the problem, as I'd probably throw myself in front of the train after a week...

Avenged7Fold said:
Choices are stay or go. Public transport or drive if you stay.

Some of the London commuters would put your new travel hours to shame and that is not taking into account the stupid inconsistencies.
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That's hardly an accurate comparison, as a) I'm not making the commute by choice, and b) I'm not being paid enough that I would make that commute by choice. If I was being paid 3-4 times my current salary then sure (although at that point it would be trivial for me to just relocate :p)
 
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not sure taking the train even with park and ride factoring in he has to pick his child from day care will help. I've never found a park and ride scheme that was quicker or anywhere near where I was working. Unlucky maybe but still look at this option in case it happens to work out well for you.

I would approach the customer as well btw, if you have built up a decent relationship with them they maybe understanding and allow you to work less hours given the changes. You don't know without asking I guess.
 
I used to do Reading to London by train and hate every minute of it, then I learnt to ride a motorcycle - travel time has dropped from two hours to sometimes less than one. Suit trousers under my gear, fresh shirt folded onto a carrier - even easier on "non-customer" days. Maybe its an option ?
 
Have you tried using google maps to see the average journey time (at the times you will be using it) between your home and the proposed new office location? 35-45 extra seems a lot for a couple of extra miles even in the middle of Birmingham?
 
Nomisf said:
I used to do Reading to London by train and hate every minute of it, then I learnt to ride a motorcycle - travel time has dropped from two hours to sometimes less than one. Suit trousers under my gear, fresh shirt folded onto a carrier - even easier on "non-customer" days. Maybe its an option ?
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Not going to happen, given the standard of "driving" round here! :p

Cold Fusion said:
Have you tried using google maps to see the average journey time (at the times you will be using it) between your home and the proposed new office location? 35-45 extra seems a lot for a couple of extra miles even in the middle of Birmingham?
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Yeah I did look, the difference on Google maps is ~25 mins, however given that it thinks my current journey should take 45 mins, I'm taking that with a pinch of salt ;)
 
Well considering what is reasonable is probably more dictated by geographic distance rather than journey time i don't think its unreasonable for them to relocated there if its just a few miles.

I know some people ask for clauses in their contract that dictates the employer can no move outside a certain radius.

All i can suggest is you continue down the route you already are. i.e. discuss with superiors that the move is going to lengthen your journey times and effect your other responsibilities and can you come to some arrangement on your hours. For example you talk about loosing an hours of productivity, could you make this up working from home after you have picked your children up?
 
I think legally you have pretty much nothing to help you. There is a limit to relocations in terms of distance above which you're supposed to receive some sort of compensation but not sure it would apply in this case as you're actually being paid mileage to go there. Your office hasn't changed.
 
negotiate working from home would be best option
will give you the time you need to get the children etc
if you could negotiate doing that 2/3 days a week
it's only fair these days you should be able to do that if you just need an internet connection to work
 
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Dis86 said:
I think legally you have pretty much nothing to help you. There is a limit to relocations in terms of distance above which you're supposed to receive some sort of compensation but not sure it would apply in this case as you're actually being paid mileage to go there. Your office hasn't changed.
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I can't see that being the case - yes I'm being paid mileage, but my time isn't being compensated. Would it be reasonable to travel an additional 30 mins each way? Sure. An extra hour? Ok. An extra 4 hours each way? Even with my mileage being paid, I doubt anyone would argue that that's "reasonable" - I guess the problem is working out at what point between 1 and 4 hours does it become unreasonable?

LiE said:
work from home an option?
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This is what my boss needs to discuss with the customer, as it may be that I can work from my employer's office a few days a week, but I don't know if that would be every day, meaning still a few days where I'm effectively "working" 4 hours for nothing.
 
Technically your "home" office hasn't gone anywhere so you've got no legal comeback on relocation at least that's how I understand it.
 
Infact just checked, doesn't look like legally there's any option unless you have a relocation clause in your contract.
 
You must think of both sides though when you are weighing up what is considered reasonable. As long as they pay mileage and within a reasonable driving distance (in this case it is considered reasonable) then no further compensation need be given. You can kick up a fuss at work if you are on good terms but do you think they would be willing to give you a sizable enough pay boost to cover the extra commute hours without you working any more than before?

Might be that they decide the cost of your travel and the extra money you ask for results in you being a very costly employee for your role within the company.
 
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