Tuesday Q&As

12.4.22

Here’s a selection of the week’s issues from the world of work!

Business insurance on a car

Q. My employer is forcing me to get business insurance on my car even tho I work from home and don’t use my car at the moment. My current insurance company will not add this to my policy so I have to find new insurance which I can’t afford to do. But I am afraid they may sack me as that is what they have implied any advice please

A. Is it a term of your contract that you provide your own transport for business purposes? There is no legal obligation on your employer to pay for business insurance, so if you are required to use your own transport as part of your job then responsibility for insurance lies with you.

I appreciate this may sound harsh and I sympathise but if you need your car to be able to work there is not a great deal you can do. You state you currently work from home. Is this a temporary or permanent arrangement? If it is temporary ask if you can delay sourcing business insurance until you are required to travel again. if it is permanent, then it would be unreasonable to require to have the business insurance, and any dismissal in those circumstances may be unfair (providing you have 2 years continuous service).

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Clocking on deductions from pay

Q. hello, the company I work for uses the tracker on the vans to deduct hours from your time sheet, for example, if you start your van at 1 minute past seven they deduct 15 minutes, it also states in our contract that we will be notified of any deductions with "reasonable notice" yet nobody has ever been informed......ever.

A. Harsh, but not that uncommon! So, they are using your van as a ‘clocking in’ device. If you accept you start work at one minute past seven and your start time is seven it is reasonable to deduct one minute not 14.

I suggest you raise a grievance and sort out a better way of clocking on. Surely you could be working, sorting out your van, checking for defects etc. before it starts and the tracker is activated.

You must check your contract of employment. The only way your employer can lawfully deduct those 14 minutes is if you have agreed, in writing, to the said type of deduction. Furthermore, if you calculate all the deductions over your pay reference period (i.e. one week or one month) and the deductions bring you below the minimum wage your employer is breaking the law and you will have a claim for unlawful deductions from pay.