Company retracting car parking facilities

kennethsmyth

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

Ever heard of park & ride?

Ever heard of two kids and a wife in car? Essentially we have a full car to Dublin each day.

kennethsmyth

ZiabR wrote: »

While I agree that the comment was not in good taste, I can't help but feel alot of businesses would be thinking along the same lines.

I also agree that businesses will think along the same lines, but as I’ve been involved (on the employers side) in these type if situations before you don’t state outside of a closed door and additionally if an employee is problematic in that they hold their ground when they have a possible case you thread very carefully even in future selections etc.

La Haine

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

I have outed in a public forum my redundancy selection methods if I employed someone like the OP, which has not & I'd do my very best to ensure will not happen.

Oh dear. Such an odd statement! to make about someone you know nothing about.

You wouldn’t hire a potential employee over a perceived sleight you may feel after you retract a perk 9 years after introducing it?

I could forgive your naivety - but not your ignorance.

La Haine

ebbsy wrote: »

A sensible suggestion.

Excellent advice. Thank you.

beauf

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

Oh no, Ken from the internet has marked my cards :rolleyes:
I'm well aware of correct selection practices for redundancy. I would also happily pay unfair dismissal to get rid of toxic staff, it's at worst 104 weeks, however that's only if the employee hasn't been reemployed for 104 weeks, which is unlikely in Ireland.
However I hire well (so far anyway) so it's never been necessary.

Makes no sense a place would keep some one who is toxic for almost a decade. Then get rid of them, over parking space worth pittance compared to the money and resources and commitment, invested in that person and also by that person.

That said lots of place do dumb things all the time.

beauf

reg114 wrote: »

....You have been very lucky to have had free parking for so long. Have you considered public transport or cycling, it could be a blessing in disguise.

Is it that rare? Almost my entire working life I've almost always had parking. Even though I've often cycled or got the train or bus.
Though its looking likely I'll lose it soon.

La Haine

beauf wrote: »

Makes no sense a place would keep some one who is toxic for almost a decade. Then get rid of them, over parking space worth pittance compared to the money and resources and commitment, invested in that person and also by that person.

That said lots of place do dumb things all the time.

Similar to my protagonist, I’ve been through the mill with pay cuts that then led to redundancy back in 2010 when bad things really kicked-off. I had been with that particular company for 10 years.

I’m a mid-level manager in here now and believe you me when I tell you I had to earn this position. My many, many years of experience and talent got me in the door here - but on not much more than what we’d pay graduates now being honest.

Reading ‘Employer of the a Year’s’ comments here are, I suppose, sort of amusing if not bizarre and just plain insulting.

A fool and his shares. 🀪

Peace & Love everybody!

bmc58

La Haine wrote: »

Hi all,

I have been working with the same company, in Dublin City, for nearly 9 years now.

The company always provided car parking facilities with no expense paid on my part.

During this 9 years we have moved premises once within the city and, again, were given free car parking.

We are now moving again; much further out (but still in city centre), and there will be no car park facilities supplied by the company this time.

There is nothing in my contract about being entitled to a car park spot at the companies expense.

Don't suppose, after 8 years of having this perk, that I'd be entitled to some form of compensation or the like? Compensation is the wrong word I suppose, but should the company be providing some form of alternative where I won't be out of pocket after the move? Like – if you have something for long enough, it 'becomes' part of your package like?

I'm clutching at straws here, I know.

Thanks!
La Haine

Something like "squatters rights".Sadly I think not.You were lucky to have this perk for so long.Looks like you have to sort your parking yourself from now on.

Calhoun

It was a perk of the job but it's not now. To cut it without consultation is quite stupid and could lead to other issues, like a staff that is less flexible.

I don't think there is anything you can do but you and your team might not be so flexible the next time you need to do something outside your contract.

Don't mind the jumped up misogynists with delusions of grandeur because they think they are some esteemed leader of men.

emeldc

Larbre34 wrote: »

€6k before tax would be a fair valuation of that.

And the op would give it all back if the office were to move again but next time with parking. Or would the €6k have then become part of the ‘contract’.
I think the whole thing is nonsense.

bmc58

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

You see this is why we can't have nice things. People get a cushy perk for a while because their employers were good enough to do so while not being obliged to & then the employer gets it thrown back in their faces because they gave staff a nice thing for too long.

As someone who employs people, this attitude drives me absolutely insane.

Why give an employee a "perk" that they get used to and then suddently remove it?Seems a recipe for discontentment with your staff.

bmc58

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

Not in business 9 years, however I'd like to think they'd understand that business needs come before their own. They entered into a contract prior to starting work & it didn't include parking, so if they got it, that's great, but it's not something that had been promised. Obviously they would prefer we had parking etc. but if we're moving office in town, options are limited. If someone raised a major issue about it and needed official consultation, I know who I'd be planning on letting go if we ever had to restructure or hit hard times.

It would be a huge highlight to me that someone is not a team player & is purely out for what they can personally get. i.e. their values are not aligned with values of the business (which are Growth of profits & professional development of staff)

Are you an employer in Ireland or China?

readyohyeah

Let's all be glad we don't work for Mickiemcfist!

In fairness, he's not the only employer who couldn't give a sh1t about his staff. Most companies would through you under a bus to make more profit. OP, I don't think you're going to get anywhere with this but you should bring it up with your employer. What's the harm? Maybe form an alliance with a few colleagues to go together to see if some solution will be found. A good employer will find one but the majority will look at their profit margin (something you help to increase) and ignore staff satisfaction.

bmc58

readyohyeah wrote: »

Let's all be glad we don't work for Mickiemcfist!

In fairness, he's not the only employer who couldn't give a sh1t about his staff. Most companies would through you under a bus to make more profit. OP, I don't think you're going to get anywhere with this but you should bring it up with your employer. What's the harm? Maybe form an alliance with a few colleagues to go together to see if some solution will be found. A good employer will find one but the majority will look at their profit margin (something you help to increase) and ignore staff satisfaction.

Agree.He doesn't come across as an empathic employer.

anewme

The days where employees work like slaves for the good of the Company and just put up and shut up are long gone.

Integrity, Compliance and respect are what are expected in the workplace these days. Both ways. Top down, bottum up.

Most people will not work for a Company with outdated attitudes such as shown in this thread. There is a Speak Out Culture where people are not negatively impacted for giving their opinions or asking a question such as OP is asking here.

OP, I work in a Company that has parking. If this parking were to be removed, there would be serious repercussions.

Usually, it is this type of thing that make the most noise, the parking, the coffee, the heating. If the Company removed my parking, I could not work there, there is no direct route.

OP, you cant be the only employee impacted by this.

How is it going down in general?

boege

Surprised no one mentioned relocation compensation - likely to be a stronger case but only if the distance moved is significant.

https://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/legal-eagle-my-employer-is-moving-location-26430005.html

I have a vague recollection that this issue of paring entitlement was debated somewhere else and it came down to whether you had been given a specific parking spot. Otherwise the parking was provided on a 'first come, first served' basis i.e. no guarantee of a parking spot and therefore no benefit.

50HX

Have you asked why are company moving out further from city centre...is it to reduce costs?

Do you think you are entitled to some forms of compo ?

Personally I think you have benifited v well from free parking over past 8 years

It would come across as self entitled to approach your manager with a " what about me free parking.....boss" approach when it's not in a contract or was never addressed previously by both employer and employee

delly

I have to say I'm a little surprised at the large number of finger wagging posts towards the OP. It's as if he has been in a privileged position by having a parking space all these years and people relish the thought that he may have to join the masses on the bus.

The fact is that the company moved offices and there are grounds for some form of compensation in my opinion. I was in the situation whereby my office moved from northside to southside and we all got a pay bump, as well as having our tolls paid for. This was done under negotiation with management with a non unionised workforce. Unless the OP is working for a charity, he is perfectly entitled to throw the feelers out to see what may be possible.

irishgrover

Mickiemcfist wrote:

You see this is why we can't have nice things. People get a cushy perk for a while because their employers were good enough to do so while not being obliged to & then the employer gets it thrown back in their faces because they gave staff a nice thing for too long.

As someone who employs people, this attitude drives me absolutely insane.

Reapectfully, IMHO, this post really is a bit of a load of bollix....
First off parking is not necessarily a cushy perk, for some it's a requirement
Second, getting free parking for 9 years isn't really just 'a while' is it
Third, arbitrarily removing a benefit of employment, that has been given for 9 or more years, really isn't a smart way to keep your employees happy and productive...
At a minimum one would expect some consultation or discussion...

LirW

OP, do you need your car for work too? (I think you mentioned out of office duties if I remember correctly)
If having a car is a key requirement for your role I'd try arguing this way and work an agreement out with your employer.

daheff

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

I think you're thinking of work practice, which is not binding - however it's more to do with how people work, not where people dump their cars.

nope.

I'm thinking of how what you do/get paid in practice overrides whats actually actually said to be happening. The substance of the event over the theory of it.

Yeah, can't agree with this mentality of "we always got it in the past, even though we weren't particularly entitled to it, now it's being removed so we should be compensated".

I mean, if you moved from a place that had scones or muffins out in the morning and the new place didn't, would you be looking for an extra 15 quid a week compensation for it?

beauf

Deleted User wrote: »

Yeah, can't agree with this mentality of "we always got it in the past, even though we weren't particularly entitled to it, now it's being removed so we should be compensated".

I mean, if you moved from a place that had scones or muffins out in the morning and the new place didn't, would you be looking for an extra 15 quid a week compensation for it?

I worked in a high end place once where they complained about the quality of the free biscuits. They got their way. Guess it depends how much a disruption will cost the business.

The flip side of this I've worked in places where they've moved to somewhere with no parking and it causes huge increase in travel and expense for many people.
Many of which had been very long time working in the same place. They were offered places in other locations, and eventually some parking was provided.
Lost a good few people, lots of domain knowledge and experience, and the business suffered. Transition took a few years to sort out.

Stheno

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

Now sweetie, we're mostly grown ups here. If you had fruit in the office for 9 years & they removed that, would you go on boards to have a whinge?

In previous jobs I've had pay cuts, perks withdrawn & signed new agreements to accept that.

You're the type of person who ruins everything for everyone else because from now on the company will have to be prescriptive & will not give any extras or you'll want to go to mediation over it. Just grow up & cop on, you had a non-contractual benefit & the show is over.

If you were employable & it was that big an issue you'd go & get another job, but I'm guessing that's not the case.

mod - don't post in this thread again

John_Rambo

I worked in a city centre company that had free parking. I was removed for three days to allow new machinery storage and installation. The lifers went absolutely nuts, two of them rang in sick for the three days and one took the time off.

One (grown) man parked his car in the car park and when he was asked to move it he got in to his car, moved it and sat in it on the road with the doors locked staring straight ahead with (I'm not kidding) his bottom lip sticking out.

Managers went out to try and talk him out of the car, but he stayed out on the road in his car staring straight ahead with the engine running for the whole day!! It was hilarious.

In comparison OP... you're dealing with this very well!

Marcusm

La Haine wrote: »

Taxman has no interest.

Link

L1011 wrote: »

There is currently no basis for BIK on parking spaces.

La Haine wrote: »

LINK

Seems there's no BIK on company car parking as it happens.

There’s absolutely a basis for it and there was a study in 2000 which recommended its introduction. It is one of the very few benefits or facilities provided to only a segment of employees which is not treated as a taxable benefits. Canteens, crèches, gyms etc must be provided to all employees. Hilariously, at work EV charging is only exempt to the extent that it is available to all employees. By contrast, basic parking can be provided to selected employees only and not differentiated by need (disability, unsocial hours etc). Coincidentally, the 2000 study commented that Revenue had twice as many spaces as any other department.

Before I am accused of civil service bashing or. Jealousy, I have had use of BIK free parking in the past. I still believe it should be taxable unless of universal application. It’s one of those areas of particular cowardice.

AndrewJRenko

Marcusm wrote: »

There’s absolutely a basis for it and there was a study in 2000 which recommended its introduction. It is one of the very few benefits or facilities provided to only a segment of employees which is not treated as a taxable benefits. Canteens, crèches, gyms etc must be provided to all employees. Hilariously, at work EV charging is only exempt to the extent that it is available to all employees. By contrast, basic parking can be provided to selected employees only and not differentiated by need (disability, unsocial hours etc). Coincidentally, the 2000 study commented that Revenue had twice as many spaces as any other department.

Before I am accused of civil service bashing or. Jealousy, I have had use of BIK free parking in the past. I still believe it should be taxable unless of universal application. It’s one of those areas of particular cowardice.

Was the study ever published? it would make for interesting reading, even 20 years later.

La Haine

OP here,


Well, all valid concerns were shared with upper management and HR.
Line manager is over from the UK on Wednesday to discuss so should be able to update as to the outcome then.

In his own words, “We have always had the teams corner in all our conversations, and trying to make as little disruption as possible to peoples lives with all this change.”

Thanks for all the input!

)

Elessar

John_Rambo wrote: »

I worked in a city centre company that had free parking. I was removed for three days to allow new machinery storage and installation. The lifers went absolutely nuts, two of them rang in sick for the three days and one took the time off.

One (grown) man parked his car in the car park and when he was asked to move it he got in to his car, moved it and sat in it on the road with the doors locked staring straight ahead with (I'm not kidding) his bottom lip sticking out.

Managers went out to try and talk him out of the car, but he stayed out on the road in his car staring straight ahead with the engine running for the whole day!! It was hilarious.

In comparison OP... you're dealing with this very well!

I can confirm that car parking at workplaces is an extremely sensitive topic, particularly where it has been the norm for a while. My workplace moved to a new building a few years ago to one where there wasn't enough parking spots for everyone who had one previously (we're talking decades). Staff went apesh*t. You'd think the company cut their pay in half. Some staff point blank refused NOT to park at the new place and it caused (and still causes) problems and blockages. The management wanted to bring in clamping but ultimately backed down as I think they saw it would cause bad blood in the office.

Rumour has it dublin airport will be removing car parking for staff soon. That will cause some union issues.

People are weird.

I worked in facilities for an office in town, who had moved from a larger shared space. Of the 24 spaces in the new building, 10 were permanently reserved for those people who had spots previously. Some never used it, others did all the time. One guy used to check that his space was empty, even if he'd got the bus that day. He'd complain about it if there was someone parked in his spot.

Eventually, those 10 were reduced to 2 through retirements etc. It was agreed to change the policy so that anyone could request parking, and all requests would be dealt with on a Thursday of the preceding week. Records of who was allowed in/out were kept. If it was over subscribed, those who had used it the most often were refused. One woman in particular REFUSED to come in if she couldn't get a spot. When it eventually transpired that this was the reason for her ringing in sick, she was disciplined. She got a doctor's note to say she needed to drive in (I sh1t you not) and was granted a permanent space.

I left soon after, but couldn't help wonder what would happen if everyone got a note.