Employee travel subsidy - Myth or Law?

Mokuba

I've heard a few times that if an employee is working outside of public transport hours, that the company is obliged to subsidise say, a taxi that the person is forced to get because of the hour and the fact that they don't drive.

E.G - X finishes work at 3am. As there is no public transport running and X doesn't drive, she is forced to get a Taxi to get home. Does she have to cover all of this out of her own pocket? And does the job description make a difference? (E.G if it is implied that the staff member will finish work at such times)

If this exists can somebody point me towards the relevant legislation please? Or if it is a myth then let me know also! Thanks.

godtabh

What does your contract say?

Failing that agree with your manager before doing those shifts what the protocol is

Victor

No requirement that I am aware of. Some employers do provide such a service, but this might be subject to BIK. http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0618/624815-taoiseachs-revenue/ It might be possible to avoid this by charging staff a portion of the taxi fare, similar tot he normal bus fare.

Mokuba

godtabh wrote: »

What does your contract say?

Failing that agree with your manager before doing those shifts what the protocol is

Nothing to do with me. The myth been mentioned to me by a relative and by a taxi driver last week - and I had heard it a few times before. Friend of mine has paid 20+ on occasion to get home and wanted to know if there was anything she could do.

Mokuba

Seems like it's just a BIK which isn't taxable if the taxi is after 10pm. Oh well. Thanks anyway.

coylemj

Mokuba wrote: »

..... Or if it is a myth then let me know also! Thanks.

It is a myth. Gardai and nurses and probably a lot of hospital workers and the like don't get such payments for transport. What they do get is an allowance for working unsocial hours when they're on night shift but that's more to do with the disruption to their social and family life than the cost of getting to and from work.

If your friend had to pay €20 to get a taxi home then he/she should discuss that with the employer. It's common in the hospitality trade for female employees living a good distance from home to get a taxi paid for by the employer when there's no other option (otherwise they'd be within their rights to refuse to work so late) but the employee really needs to sort it out face to face with the boss instead of relying on BS urban myths put about by taxi drivers!

Victor

coylemj wrote: »

otherwise they'd be within their rights to refuse to work so late

Really?

coylemj

Victor wrote: »

Really?

Hotel in the middle of nowhere asks a female employee who lives a couple of miles away and has no car to work late at a function, expected finish time 2 a.m. She asks for a paid taxi home, boss says 'no'.

You infer that she can't refuse? If it's outside the scope of her normal shifts I say she can refuse.

Losty Dublin

coylemj wrote: »

Hotel in the middle of nowhere asks a female employee who lives a couple of miles away and has no car to work late at a function, expected finish time 2 a.m. She asks for a paid taxi home, boss says 'no'.

You infer that she can't refuse? If it's outside the scope of her normal shifts I say she can refuse.

If she is helping out over and beyond her shift then they might cover the cab for her as a gratuity or sweetener but they aren't legally obliged to cover it.

It's up to an employer to get the staff and the employee to get to work. That said, most employers are decent and will pay for or help staff out if they are working awkward hours, hard to reach locations or are unable to drive.

carpejugulum

Victor wrote: »

Really?

of course (unless their contract says they are expected to work such hours and it's not new)

conorh91

coylemj wrote: »

Hotel in the middle of nowhere asks a female employee who lives a couple of miles away and has no car to work late at a function, expected finish time 2 a.m. She asks for a paid taxi home, boss says 'no'.

You infer that she can't refuse? If it's outside the scope of her normal shifts I say she can refuse.

What are you relying on to arrive at this position?

The issue is whether the change to the roster is contractually protected. There are very few employers who would implement into contracts of employment individual rosters for workers performing the same duties.

If the question is therefore one of a unilateral change to working practices, in this case rosters, then the law is very clear. There is no protection.

Bepolite

As per above, basic H&S would preculde it happening. A common sense risk assesment would conclude it was unsafe.

conorh91

Possibly. The first obstacle to overcome is probably, when is an employee "at work"?

Bepolite

conorh91 wrote: »

Possibly. The first obstacle to overcome is probably, when is an employee "at work"?

I'd be lying if I said I could back this up with legislation etc. but I susepct reasonable travel would be covered. I know from my days in retail many companies had policies on when taxis had to be called.

I suspect many of these businesses did it out of kindness, but I'm sure others did it out of duty to the insurer if nothing else.

efb

Duty of Care perhaps?

conorh91

efb wrote: »

Duty of Care perhaps?

Don't make me get Binchy. Please. it's Friday night.

Bepolite

conorh91 wrote: »

Don't make me get Binchy. Please. it's Friday night.

...and he's probably pissed at this stage