Company moving, who will fund the bus fare?

LegacyUser

The company I work for are moving to a new office. We will be in the new building from Monday. Do you think the company should pay my travel expenses? I don't mean taxis or anything fancy, just a Rambler. Or is it just tough luck on my part and I will have to cough up the money myself?

I wouldn't really be happy with having to pay for it myself tbh. I used to walk in and it would take me 30 mins. Now I'm going to have to get buses and it will take me a lot longer and getting home will be a daily headache. It's a bit ironic because before I got this job I told the agency I wanted something in the city centre because it really suited me for a few reasons.

Sorry, I was going a bit pff topic there. Am I being greedy by asking the company to pay for my bus fare? Or is it a reasonable request? Especially considering that it's a long-term issue.

snellers

I think you are better off to accept without saying anything

companies move - *** happens !

certainly something to maybe try and negotiate when your next pay review comes up though!! :-)

AARRRGH

You are not entitled to anything unfortunately.

mdebets

The place of work is part of your contract and can therefore not be changed without your consent.
If you have already agreed to it, there is nothing you can do about it now. If not, you should definitely try to get them to agree to pay the difference in the travel costs, at least for a year.

Iago

mdebets wrote: »

The place of work is part of your contract and can therefore not be changed without your consent.
If you have already agreed to it, there is nothing you can do about it now. If not, you should definitely try to get them to agree to pay the difference in the travel costs, at least for a year.

Most contracts now state that you "may be asked or required to work in other locations in which the company does business on either a short-term or permenant basis" or words to that effect.

If they didn't have that clause they would have to pay moving/relocation expenses for everybody in the company. I'd be very surprised if OP will get any joy that way.

Generally you have two options, suck it up because the job and opportunity mean more to you than the cost of additional travel and time per week. Or move to another company that suits your location better.

AARRRGH

mdebets wrote: »

The place of work is part of your contract and can therefore not be changed without your consent.
If you have already agreed to it, there is nothing you can do about it now. If not, you should definitely try to get them to agree to pay the difference in the travel costs, at least for a year.

Are you sure about this?

I'm nearly certain employees are only protected if the location is changing county.

/I read about this stuff about 6 months ago. I vaguely remember the above is the current situation in Ireland

pirelli

snellers wrote: »

I think you are better off to accept without saying anything

companies move - *** happens !

certainly something to maybe try and negotiate when your next pay review comes up though!! :-)

Perhaps, but review your contract as normally in such a situation you would be entitled to have your say and be listened too and would be probably entitled to some travel allowance. I have just read a EAT case where an employee walked out ( constructive dissmissal). The compnay was moving from dublin to another location and the employee sought additonal pay or allowance and when this was refused he walked out.His claim was sucessful in the EAT.

dublindude wrote: »

You are not entitled to anything unfortunately.

Fortunately; that's not correct. There have been many cases like this and they are covered by employment legislation. You have such entitlemnts, you really hvae, but check the contract just in case.

dublindude wrote: »

Are you sure about this?

I'm nearly certain employees are only protected if the location is changing county.

/I read about this stuff about 6 months ago. I vaguely remember the above is the current situation in Ireland

The contract is important; although I think that some things can not be inserted into a contract and they are unconditional rights an employee has. It would be unwise however to not review the contract and you should always seek legal opinion.

LegacyUser

Hi everyone, thank you for your replies.

Well, nothing has been mentioned so does anyone have any advice on how I could bring it up? Maybe keep reciepts and submit them like expenses for re-imbursement? Then i'm still out of pocket for a month.

I'm peeved that the company just expects me to pay for it, it works out at €750 a year out of my own pocket. Not to mention the extra hours involved with travelling. If it were the case that I knew where the job was going to be located when I joined then I understand that I would be entitled to nothing but they've moved. And the new location really doesn't suit me at all.

AARRRGH

pirelli wrote: »

There have been many cases like this and they are covered by employment legislation. You have such entitlemnts, you really hvae, but check the contract just in case.

Do you have a link to the employee legislation which covers office relocation?

mdebets

Iago wrote: »

Most contracts now state that you "may be asked or required to work in other locations in which the company does business on either a short-term or permenant basis" or words to that effect.

My reading of paragraph 3(1)(a) here would suggest that this doesn't cover a permanent move, but rather allows employees to go short-time to a customer site or another office..

Iago

3.—(1) An employer shall, not later than 2 months after the commencement of an employee's employment with the employer, give or cause to be given to the employee a statement in writing containing the following particulars of the terms of the employee's employment, that is to say—

( a ) the full names of the employer and the employee,

( b ) the address of the employer in the State or, where appropriate, the address of the principal place of the relevant business of the employer in the State or the registered office (within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1963 ),

( c ) the place of work or, where there is no fixed or main place of work, a statement specifying that the employee is required or permitted to work at various places,

My guess is you meant (3) (1) (c) above, all that indicates is that you must provide your employees with a place of business or list thereafter. It doesn't preclude that place of business changing at a later point during your employment with the company. If the company (as most do now) has a specific clause in your contract stating that you may need to work in a different location then you're not entitled to anything as a result.

LegacyUser

The move doesn't affect anyone else, they all have cars.

No, I'm not happy with the new location. It took me, in total, 4 and a half hours travelling to and from work today. I know a lot of people might come on and say "That's not so bad" but it used to take me 1 hour and that's what I originally signed up for.

Deadeyes

Does your company do yearly appraisals or salary reviews? If so bring it up at this time, but not as a specific travel expense. Look for a general pay increase, because your a good employee work hard blah de blah and also your now incurring extra costs both in terms of time an dmoney.

UnhappyBunny

Hi, I'm sorry but for some reason my follow-up posts aren't getting through.

Iago, the move doesn't affect anyone else negatively, they all drive. Although I'm not sure where everyone lives so maybe some of them will need to pay more for petrol. But it's not going to affect them too much with regards travelling time.

Also, as regards your comment "Generally you have two options, suck it up because the job and opportunity mean more to you than the cost of additional travel and time per week." I would like to point out that the job means very little to me and there is no issue of "opportunity", this is not a job which will further my career.

So, the answer is obvious. Leave. Now that we've actually moved it's not just estimation, I know how much of a nightmare it is to get here and get home. On Monday I spent a sum total of 5 and a half hours travelling. I got absolutely lost and I was quite scared as I hadn't a clue how to get home.

But tbh, there are other reasons why I wish to leave aswell. I was in two minds about it so I said I'd wait and see what happened with regards the move. And it's really obvious now, i can't stay here.

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I was quite surprised actually that the company aren't obligated to even reimburse you financially. Even if they had though I wouldn't have been happy due to all the travelling time. I have things set up in the city centre based on being in the city at 5:45 / 6pm.

But at least I have no regrets about leaving now. I won't look back and wonder "Would it have been so bad? Maybe I should've given it a go"

mdebets

Iago wrote: »

My guess is you meant (3) (1) (c) above, all that indicates is that you must provide your employees with a place of business or list thereafter. It doesn't preclude that place of business changing at a later point during your employment with the company. If the company (as most do now) has a specific clause in your contract stating that you may need to work in a different location then you're not entitled to anything as a result.

(3) (1) (c) clearly states, that the 2nd option of different workplaces only apply if you don't have a main place of work.
I read the OP, that he was only working in the old office before the move. Therefore his contract must say: Place of Work: old Office.
Now that the company moved office, they have to change his contract to: Place of Work: new Office. They can't do that without the consent of the employee. The clause about different locations does not apply to your main place of work.

AARRRGH

mdebets wrote: »

Now that the company moved office, they have to change his contract to: Place of Work: new Office. They can't do that without the consent of the employee. The clause about different locations does not apply to your main place of work.

I think you're being a bit too positive.

Firstly, his contract most likely has a clause that they can move office any time. The OP will have signed this contract.

Secondly, if the OP refuses to move to the new office, he will get his months notice.

So the OP can't win.

LegacyUser

I've checked my contract. It says

and your place of work will be at the offices of (Company). Currently these are situated at (old address)

So I'm not entitled to anything. Although it would have been nice if they had offered. They can afford €15 a week a lot more easily than I can.

growler

can't see any reason why they should reimburse your extra travel costs, if they moved next door to you would you be accepting of a salary cut?

As the travel cost and time are obviously an issue for you, you should speak to you rmanager explain your situation and see what they may be able to do for you.

afaik you can't claim travel to / from work as an expense anyway.

Personally I always include a clause in employment contracts specifying that the place of work may change if required by the business.