Can you be forced to drive at work?

[stitched]

TooMany2cvs said:

joebongo said:

My wife has never driven since passing her test a few years ago

But she does have a current valid driving licence, and there's no particular reason (other than personal preference) for her not to?

joebongo said:

someone has complained she uses public transport to get to and from site visits. Her employer has said she must start driving next year

Is her travel taking significantly longer than it would otherwise do as a result? If so, it doesn't seem unreasonable.

joebongo said:

In short is this enforceable?

I can't read her contract or any employee handbooks from here. Is holding a driving licence a requirement for her position?

If she can drive, but doesn't want to, and that preference is causing her to take much longer to perform her job than it should do, then I can see why her boss might be aggrieved. Is the work that she's doing on the public transport commercially confidential? If so then, again, that might be a problem.

Sounds like it should be easily resolved without getting too uppity on either side, but the easiest solution might just be for her to get over whatever's stopping her from driving.

Curiosity prompts me to ask,
Have you ever posted something on here which made anyone but you feel better?
I normally treat this place as somewhere to get good advice, which it has on occasion provided me and try not to offend people.
In your case, after several months of biting my tongue I think I'll make an exception.
You sir are a grade z prick.

[xjay1337]

I've been with 4 companies where having a car was required and I've never had to prove the road-worthiness to any of them.
On my mileage sheets for one company I had to check a box "is the vehicle in roadworthy condition". I never had to show proof of business insurance (even though I had it) , MOT or tax.

OP - Have your wife check / request a copy of her contract.
See what it says in there.
I can see it both ways, public transport across rural areas or <30 mile distances is not really practical. For huge distances (EG London to Newcastle) or around the same town or city it's perfectly reasonable.

st of her boss either way, to be demanding she use a car.

Will they cover the cost? If not, tell them to fk off, frankly.

[SpeckledJim]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

untakenname said:

there was a thread about someones daughter applying for then being denied a job at the Royal Mail as she doesn't hold a manual licence, I wonder if that would count as discrimination?

There are no laws preventing discrimination against people who can drive, or can't, or can't drive manual, or motorcycles, or whatever. Licence discrimination laws don't exist.

I wrote to the FA when they sacked Allardyce to ask for his job, and they discriminated against me on the grounds of never having been a football manager. So, racism, basically.

How do they know I am not a genius football manager when I have never lost a game!? Anyway, looking forward to my day in court!

[anonymous-user]

SpeckledJim said:

I wrote to the FA when they sacked Allardyce to ask for his job, and they discriminated against me on the grounds of never having been a football manager. So, racism, basically.

How do they know I am not a genius football manager when I have never lost a game!? Anyway, looking forward to my day in court!

A valid reason for the rejection would be if you didn't hold the appropriate qualification which, at a guess, is a UEFA A or pro licence isn't it?

[craigjm]

What are the site visits for? Too many companies these days are really archaic about how they design their organisations and the roles within them. Is she performing some kind of task at these other sites? Is she really best placed to do it if she has to travel? Or is she attending meetings which can really be completed using Skype for Business etc? I see so many companies insisting on all meetings being face to face and generating unnecessary cost and non value add time.

[KevinCamaroSS]

SpeckledJim said:

I wrote to the FA when they sacked Allardyce to ask for his job, and they discriminated against me on the grounds of never having been a football manager. So, racism, basically.

How does that work out to be 'racism'?

[Jasandjules]

Not clear why people seem to think she ought to be driving. To me I am pleased that someone who is not quite confident enough is not hurtling around at 30mph in a tonne of metal. I prefer people who are happy, confident and safer on the roads myself and I think she should be given a good deal of credit and respect for accepting she is perhaps not good at it and better for everyone if she is not behind a wheel.

[Red Devil]

SpeckledJim said:

I wrote to the FA when they sacked Allardyce to ask for his job, and they discriminated against me on the grounds of never having been a football manager. So, racism, basically.

How do they know I am not a genius football manager when I have never lost a game!? Anyway, looking forward to my day in court!

Nothing to do with racism. You failed to agree to do the job free of charge. No money changing hands in either direction.
With all the allegations of corruption and bungs flying around it's the only way to remain untainted.

[4x4Tyke]

In my experience, job contracts and handbooks do stipulate the extent of travel, but rarely the form beyond bland references to reasonableness. I've certainly used public transport as much as my car to visit client site. Trains as regularly as car, Taxis, Tube and buses. I've worked in Gibraltar and London and the bus was the best option for some trips.