Getting paid for travel time

the big herm

Hi,i have been a carpenter for 13 years and upto 2009 all our work was based locally, we work in a workshop and on site and get paid the same for both. Since the downturn we have had to travel to get work, we have never got paid for travelling on any of these jobs and me and my fellow employees are starting to get sick of it.

Lately we had to travel 2 hours to get to site leaving at 05.30 doing a full 8 hr day and arriving home at 18.30,we were on site for 6-7 weeks which is alot of travelling for no extra money.
My fellow employees and i are going to talk to the boss tomorrow and put forward our case for travel time.

I was just wondering what other people thought about this and if anyone has had any similar problems or solutions, your input would be greatly appreciated.

dpofloinn

I work as a plumber and in the past worked for companies for who paid milage from base to the job and back to base ive also worked for companies where mileage was not paid reguardless of where the job was.Now as for travel time alot of companies I worked for used to do a shorter working day in lieu of travel pay so the normal day was 8am to 5pm but if we where working more than an hour away from home the day would officially start at 8.45am and end at 4pm with the full days pay,but at the end of the day its entirely at the discretion of the employer

Mrs OBumble

Are there a lot of other jobs you could apply for, which don't involve so much travel?

Stheno

It depends on the company there are no legal requirements here.

I work all around Ireland and get mileage when I do so, and I work internationally as well, which often means I spend Saturday and Sunday travelling, and don't get paid for it.

If I'm abroad over a weekend I also don't get paid for it.

However, I do get mileage, get my travel days as holidays, and make sure any expenses I occur due to being abroad at the weekend are paid which my company are happy to do.

What sort of policies does your company have?

oldguysrip

I recall a labour court case about 8 years ago where bus drivers had to drive to the start of the route during lunch hour. I think the principal was established that any time which you are not free to use as you please is considered working time.

Dark Phoenix

oldguysrip wrote: »

I recall a labour court case about 8 years ago where bus drivers had to drive to the start of the route during lunch hour. I think the principal was established that any time which you are not free to use as you please is considered working time.

Interesting. I have to travel every week or two abroad for work. I am paid expenses and am paid mileage to and from airport. However this week alone I will lose an evening travelling home and will not get compensated for it at all (I do not get extra pay for it nor do I get time in leui / holiday time). I will get home at 9/10pm one evening having worked from 9am and will be expected to work as normal the next day - would appreciate any advice on this - is time in leui / payment a legal expectation or is it up to the company?

Bandana boy

You could look at it another way

Work in your locality has dried up ,your employer has started tendering for jobs further away to keep the company viable.

Now in this scenario increasing his costs by looking to cut your value add hours by the commute time ,probably makes his tender unsuccesful.What are the implications for you if this happens ?

Assume you win and the business goes bust will you not end up working for the successful tenderer for these jobs which will still require you to make the commute and not get paid for it. Is it possible negotiating your new terms with a new employer in this market you end up taking a pay cut to boot ?

Just one scenario on how this could play out but not entirely unbelievable

murphym7

Dark Phoenix wrote: »

Interesting. I have to travel every week or two abroad for work. I am paid expenses and am paid mileage to and from airport. However this week alone I will lose an evening travelling home and will not get compensated for it at all (I do not get extra pay for it nor do I get time in leui / holiday time). I will get home at 9/10pm one evening having worked from 9am and will be expected to work as normal the next day - would appreciate any advice on this - is time in leui / payment a legal expectation or is it up to the company?

I do this regularly, and the late home or 6am flights are considered the same as if I worked in the office late. No pay, no time in Lieu. Where there is time in lieu is for when I need to travel at the weekend, I do get those days back.

It’s the same as if you were away on business for 3 nights, they are not going to pay you for the 5pm – 9am portion of each day you are away. Its expected, well it is in my company anyway.

Stheno

murphym7 wrote: »

I do this regularly, and the late home or 6am flights are considered the same as if I worked in the office late. No pay, no time in Lieu. Where there is time in lieu is for when I need to travel at the weekend, I do get those days back.

It’s the same as if you were away on business for 3 nights, they are not going to pay you for the 5pm – 9am portion of each day you are away. Its expected, well it is in my company anyway.

Same here, it's specifically Sat/Sun, late hours during the week are considered normal

If I am away for an extended period which can be up to three weeks/a month at a time without getting home, I do get extra expenses to cover stuff to do at the weekend, nothing excessive mind you, but e.g. if I go on a bus tour on a Saturday, I'll get that reimbursed.

If however I'm sent to work somewhere 100 miles from the home office for a day the extra commuting time is not considered.

murphym7

Stheno wrote: »

Same here, it's specifically Sat/Sun, late hours during the week are considered normal

If I am away for an extended period which can be up to three weeks/a month at a time without getting home, I do get extra expenses to cover stuff to do at the weekend, nothing excessive mind you, but e.g. if I go on a bus tour on a Saturday, I'll get that reimbursed.If however I'm sent to work somewhere 100 miles from the home office for a day the extra commuting time is not considered.

Lucky, we don’t have anything like that. If I have a weekend away between work weeks the same expenses rules apply. In fact they recently removed the one expensed pay per view movie per day too. Weekends are tough to put down without diving into you own personal money. What I try to do is do a bit of work for a few hours, leisure centre, maybe a walk and find an off license and buy some nice wine, get room service(still allowed for now!) watch TV or movies on my Laptop and head down to the hotel bar to finish off the night. One weekend is fine, it’s when you go 2/3 weekends in a row when it all gets a bit tiresome.

Worst thing is Mrs Murphym7 thinks I am having a royaler away from home, living it up. Not in reality what happens. Especially when you are stuck in a really industrialised part of the world and away from easy access to main urban areas.

Bit off topic, moan now over.:)

No Pants

I book my flights during the working day.

Filibuster

Ring your local tax office and see if you can claim a tax deduction for travel expenses using the IT54 form, it may apply in your case.

An employee may claim a tax deduction in respect of the cost of subsistence expenses necessarily incurred when the employee performs the duties of his/her employment whilst temporarily away from his/her normal place of work (or is working abroad on a foreign assignment) by submitting a claim to his/her Revenue office.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it54.html

Stheno

No Pants wrote: »

I book my flights during the working day.

That's great if you can do it however long haul doesn't always accomidaye that. I once spent 27 hours straight travelling home from an assigment

king size mars bar

Employers seem to think that getting to the job is not part of the paid working day and the impression I get is if you don't like it you know where the door is. They don't want to hear travel time mentioned!

No Pants

Stheno wrote: »

That's great if you can do it however long haul doesn't always accomidaye that. I once spent 27 hours straight travelling home from an assigment

I had that too once, but it was almost three years ago now. I simply told them I'd be back at work on Tuesday.

Stheno

No Pants wrote: »

I had that too once, but it was almost three years ago now. I simply told them I'd be back at work on Tuesday.

Yeah same here, in fairness anytime I've had that type of stuff, I get a break to accomodate tiredness/jetlag etc

It's a loyal pain in the face though