What are my rights when my company relocates ?

No3ntry

No3ntry

No3ntry

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The company that i work for is having to move my office (not by choice i might ad) to a new location.
The new office is a further 6 miles for me.
my current journey is 16 miles and takes about 30 minutes, witha daily round trip of 32 miles and 1 hour travelling.

The new location is going to mean a 44 miles round trip and 1 hour 20 mins travelling.

My car does approx 26MPG which means very roughly about £60 extra per month for me and that is at current prices I am led to believe fuel is very likely to be £1.50 by the end of the year.

It has been suggested by my superviosr that i should look at buying a new car, so i took this up with my manager and got accross to him without being obnoxious or rude that i wasnt happy with this suggestion and he in return without being impolite suggested that my supervisor was perhaps right.
I have asked for some sort of contribution towards extra fuel when we move at the end of the month, and was told he would take it up with his manager (who also works in our office 2 or 3 times a week) so at the minute I am awaiting an answer.



I have been in this company about a month and they did not mention (and apparently did not find out themselves until shortly after i started) anything about moving offices at the interview.

What are my official rights ?

P.S. any suggestion about driving more economically, I already am I have taken the cars economy from ~18MPG to 26MPG by taking it easy on the right pedal my car is an Audi S3 and there are lots of hills on the way to my place of work.
 
No3ntry said:
My car does approx 26MPG which means very roughly about £60 extra per month for me and that is at current prices I am led to believe fuel is very likely to be £1.50 by the end of the year.
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I would be very suprised if that happens. If you hang about in the motors forum you would've seen Fox's thread on why this is unlikely.
 
My company moved office a short but non-trivial distance at the beginning of last year, (from Nottingham out to Beeston). We were told that they had a duty to pay for any increase in travel for the first 48 weeks be that rail season tickets, (in my case), or for any additional mileage that is added to your journey above the existing journey at their standard mileage rate over that time period.

I don't know whether this is a legal requirement though.
 
Companies can offer a relocation package in certain cases, or offer to pay the difference in your travel costs for a year. After which time if you're still employed I guess the consensus is that you're OK with the extra commute. I'm sure yours will have something along those lines in mind, no company likes losing experienced key staff so they normally do something to retain them.

To be honest for the sake of 12 miles a day I wouldn't get that worried about it,
sure it might seem like a big deal now but if you're compensated for the year then I wouldn't worry too much.

My company relocated from Isleworth to Gatwick, which meant my 25 minute journey turned into a potential epic slog around the M25/M23 instead of a straight run down the M3. Got used to it in the end, and they let me alter my work hours to suit the traffic so no real dramas. Ended up staying with them for another 3 years after the relocation too.
 
Oh I wouldn't leave if they refused to pay anything or if i wasn't entitled to anything, it would just hurt a little until i get a payrise as currently my "spare" cash every month is about £200 so that would be reduced to £140 which isnt a lot of money to play with every month.
 
Energize said:
26mpg?! Maybe buying a new car may not be such a bad idea afterall....
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Very few decent cars will beat this on a congested stop start commute.

OP, i wouldnt be suprised if they simply tell you to suck it up, after all it is your duty to get to your place of work wherever it may be.
 
30 mins to do 16 miles?? jesus!!

It depends on your contract. When we moved the first time, I didn't get anything as it was closer to me but the others all got a petrol allowance for 6 months. The second time we moved it was the same, however those that started after we knew about the move got nothing. Your contract may state something about working on other sites and a petrol allowance.

As for your car, I would suggest getting yourself either a pushbike if its a built up area or a little moped. The fuel you would save should make a very large dent in the costs of buying and running one.
 
My contract says the company could move anywhere within 10 miles of its current location and I'd still be expected to get there without further ado!
 
Jez said:
....

OP, i wouldnt be suprised if they simply tell you to suck it up, after all it is your duty to get to your place of work wherever it may be.
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depends (*) ... if the existing site is his contracted base location and his contract does not have a mobility clause then they actually need to vary his employment contract to change the location.

He can refuse to accept that variation, and if the move is minor so he could be reasonably expected to travel there via available means, then find himself out of a job or if it is significant so that it is an unreasonable move he can be offered redundancy, (although his length of service also makes that unlikely).

There could also be other contractual clauses which could affect this, (I used to work with several people who had a clause in their employment contracts which stated they had to be within X minutes walk of an operational railway station.)

Given the OP here I doubt that this could be classed as unreasonable but he maybe able to argue that they should pay excess mileage at first.

(*) disclaimer ... Im not a lawyer nor have I played one on telly.
 
in my contract.

under the heading "variation of terms"
The company reserves the right reasonably to reallocate responsibilities to you which may involve a change in the scope of the natue of your job and / or place of work.

that is all I am not sure wether asking me to spend another £60ish a month on fuel is reasonable or not.


To the people who think i should get another car, I ask you this why should I have to sell my car and get another due to my company moving premises. I already pay through the nose for insurance, tax and fuel through my own desire to own a nice (and powerful) car. If i drove a standard run of the mill car which i cared nothing for fair enough it probably would have been sold long ago in exchange for a diesel anyhow, but my car isn't just a commuting vehicle.

I considered buying something like a 2nd hand 1.5D 106 just to travel to work in but i think any savings made would be spent on extra insurance tax MOT and repairs anyway making it pointless.



Do not think for one second that I am being unreasonable if push comes to shove I will just bite the bullet and soak up the cost as from what i understand in the next 12 months my wages will go up by about £1500 and this is such a big company I have good future prospects/oppertunities with them.
 
Jez said:
Very few decent cars will beat this on a congested stop start commute.
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Even a ford fiesta does 36mpg urban and vauxhall corsa 45mpg. Take into account that the 26mpg is probably the combined figure, then it's even worse.
 
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You might not have a case for reasonable termination of contract, given that 6 miles isn't a huge distance.

Best thing would be to talk to the company and say you're going to struggle with fuel costs. They might be willing to work out a mileage allowance.
 
Energize said:
That's the manufactures figure and probably the combined one which means that the actual rating for a commute will be even lower, so other cars will beat it. Even a ford fiesta does something like 36mpg urban.
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I very much doubt someone with an S3 is going to be interested in anything which will return anything better. The answer is not to change the car, it is to try and get the employer to foot the bill.
 
You have been at the company for 1 month and are kicking up a fuss over an extra 12 miles per day? Rather you than me, an extra 60 miles per week is hardly a big deal. I wouldn't want to rock the boat after only 1 month. Would you have taken the job if you had known about the extra travelling?

Maybe your manager is right. If you are complaining about an extra 60 miles per week then perhaps you shouldn't be running a performance car like that?
 
Jez said:
I very much doubt someone with an S3 is going to be interested in anything which will return anything better.
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That's his problem then, you can't get a car with a crappy fuel efficiency polluting the environment and then complain that petrol is costing too much.

The answer is not to change the car, it is to try and get the employer to foot the bill.
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It's not likely is it?
 
I've no idea if it is a legal obligation, but my previous employer subsidised my fuel after they relocated me. (Went from a 2 miles to 32 miles :()
 
Adam said:
You have been at the company for 1 month and are kicking up a fuss over an extra 12 miles per day? Rather you than me, an extra 60 miles per week is hardly a big deal. I wouldn't want to rock the boat after only 1 month. Would you have taken the job if you had known about the extra travelling?

Maybe your manager is right. If you are complaining about an extra 60 miles per week then perhaps you shouldn't be running a performance car like that?
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As an employer, I'd agree with that to be honest.

Why should the company foot the bill of the someone who's been there a month? They probably have other longer term staff who have the same issues but arent complaining or wanting to claim more. If you're struggling to afford the extra because you choose to run an expensive car thats just life I'm afraid, so you either accept having less disposeable income, change the car or change the job.
 
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