Trackers

[Bright Halo]

The company I work for has recently had trackers installed on all company vehicles including company cars that are for private use as well as business.
There was no discussion with staff other than an email to say your car needed to be available on a certain day and time for the installation.
There is no privacy button so it is on all the time.
The only reason given when asked was that it was to lower insurance costs.

My question is there some procedure that should have been followed and is tracking of a privately used company car (out of hours/weekends etc) legal?

[speedking31]

Do you have a company mobile phone that you use at weekends?

[LeMansNut]

Bright Halo said:

The only reason given when asked was that it was to lower insurance costs.

You can bet that this is more the bright idea of an accountant and less about "snooping" on your private usage. However, I think you need to ask if a "tracker" is being fitted or a "black box"? Tracker is anti-theft but a "black box" monitors your speed...if that makes sense.

[NGee]

Bright Halo said:

The company I work for has recently had trackers installed on all company vehicles including company cars that are for private use as well as business.
There was no discussion with staff other than an email to say your car needed to be available on a certain day and time for the installation.
There is no privacy button so it is on all the time.
The only reason given when asked was that it was to lower insurance costs.

My question is there some procedure that should have been followed and is tracking of a privately used company car (out of hours/weekends etc) legal?

I guess you could hand the car back if you don't like it - although this might involve looking for a new job!

[ian in lancs]

There's a GDPR angle - depends who has access to the [personal] data and what it is used for and whether you were asked to grant permission for collection and use of data.

destination, route, driver compliance/behavior all reported. What will happen if the insurer raises risk issues on one car and the employer takes a dim view?

[BobSaunders]

ian in lancs]There's a GDPR angle - depends who has access to the [personal said:

data and what it is used for and whether you were asked to grant permission for collection and use of data.

destination, route, driver compliance/behavior all reported. What will happen if the insurer raises risk issues on one car and the employer takes a dim view?

https://www.iaaf.co.uk/news-item/gdpr-and-your-company-car-tracking-policy

[BertBert]

What does it say in your company's privacy policy?

[TwigtheWonderkid]

I have a company car. I'd be quite happy for them to track me during working hours, but not in my own time. I pay BIK for pleasure use, and I expect to be able to do what I like within the law, during my down time.

I'd have no issue with a device that alerted them to when I was speeding during my own time, it's purely the tracking of journeys I'd be unhappy with.

I might use the car to visit the office of a rival firm for an interview, visit a relative in jail, attend an AA meeting, or all kinds of legal stuff that I wouldn't want my employer to know about.

[WJNB]

Phew! I retired just as my employer were about to fit trackers to all the company cars issued to the sales force from senior managers downwards. No doubt they claimed insurance reasons.
Having spent 40 years NOT being tracked, NOT being spot-checked as to location yet achieving all my employers targets, I skived numerous days off to go flying, do some gardening, play with my classic cars, chase a few women, getting home early etc etc a tracker would have ruined my fun.
No wonder I turned down a very senior role that would have been office based & thus accountable for every moment. The substantial salary increase would have been mostly swallowed up by tax & my fun life-style at the part expense of my employer ruined.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

WJNB said:

I retired ...stuff

The substantial salary increase would have been mostly swallowed up by tax

You could have paid your entire increase into you pension and not paid any tax on it at all.

And even if you didn't do that, I'd like to see the maths on how a substantial salary increase can by mostly swallowed up by tax.

[anonymous-user]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

WJNB said:

I retired ...stuff

The substantial salary increase would have been mostly swallowed up by tax

You could have paid your entire increase into you pension and not paid any tax on it at all.

And even if you didn't do that, I'd like to see the maths on how a substantial salary increase can by mostly swallowed up by tax.

If it went from £100k to £125k most of it (60%) would go in tax, wouldn’t it?

[Chris32345]

REALIST123 said:

If it went from £100k to £125k most of it (60%) would go in tax, wouldn’t it?

60% of earnings above £100k so you'd only pay 60% tax on the £25k increase not the whole lot

[Countdown]

Bright Halo said:

The company I work for has recently had trackers installed on all company vehicles including company cars that are for private use as well as business.
There was no discussion with staff other than an email to say your car needed to be available on a certain day and time for the installation.
There is no privacy button so it is on all the time.
The only reason given when asked was that it was to lower insurance costs.

My question is there some procedure that should have been followed and is tracking of a privately used company car (out of hours/weekends etc) legal?

A compnay I used to work for installed them on all work vehicles. To be fair it was a different type of vehicle works vans/tipper trucks etc, not the type you would normally use for private purposes. However the reasons for installing them were as follows;

1. To make sure employees drove safely/legally
2. To make sure they were working where they were supposed to be and not doing "foreigners".
3. To make sure they weren't using works vans for private jobs at the weekend.

[Cpl nobby nobbs]

This is not aimed at anyone in this thread it's purely my opinion and we all know what opinions are like.

Im fairly sure they should have consulted you to explain their intentions to fit trackers and their policy on who has access to the data and data protection etc. We definitely did, but in the end its the company's cars so if they want trackers so be it.

Had them with the previous and current employer. First one was just a tracker the current one is a full telemetry setup so you get a driver score based on harsh braking etc.
The bonus to the tracker is no more mileage sheets as we classify the journeys in the app as private or business through this.

Yes the GPS is active all the time, it does have a privacy button but no one uses it, we have about 60 cars and 1 fleet manager who is the only person with full access to the tracking info. If I require this info on any of the guys I manage I have to give valid reasons for wanting it.
During working hours the guys on dispatch giving out the jobs have a live view that shows where the car is and if the ignition is on to enable them to better allocate work. Other than that no one is looking at it.

The thing I have never understood with the complaints about trackers, like "they can see what I'm doing in my personal time" etc.

Do you really think people give a st what you do! No one cares.

People have a very high opinion of themselves thinking some one in the office is going to give a st where you are driving on your day off or at the weekend, why would they FFS.

Then if anyone ever did mention anything to you like "oh I see you where at such and such over the weekend" then you could really have a field day with them, straight to HR and so much st would rain down on them they would be digging for months if they keep their jobs at all.

That could have turned into a bit of a rant. I have had to deal with a fair bit of this in the past with people whining about it.
If you don't like it go get another job simple as that.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Chris32345 said:

REALIST123 said:

If it went from £100k to £125k most of it (60%) would go in tax, wouldn’t it?

60% of earnings above £100k so you'd only pay 60% tax on the £25k increase not the whole lot

The top rate is 45%, not 60. And it kicks in at £150K, not £100K. The tax rate on £100K and £125K is 40%.

If you were on £100K and got a 25% increase in salary, you'd get a 25% increase in your take home pay, because the tax rate hasn't changed.

[Countdown]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

The top rate is 45%, not 60. And it kicks in at £150K, not £100K. The tax rate on £100K and £125K is 40%.

If you were on £100K and got a 25% increase in salary, you'd get a 25% increase in your take home pay, because the tax rate hasn't changed.

You lose your personal allowance between £100k - £125k so the effective marginal rate jumps. Not only are you paying 45% on earnings between £100k-£125k you also start paying 20% on earnings between 0k and £12.5k

[poo at Paul's]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

The top rate is 45%, not 60. And it kicks in at £150K, not £100K. The tax rate on £100K and £125K is 40%.

If you were on £100K and got a 25% increase in salary, you'd get a 25% increase in your take home pay, because the tax rate hasn't changed.

[parabolica]

I bet nobody would be complaining if their car gets nicked and they can find it using the tracking software. I very much doubt there is someone at your company getting all hot and sweaty looking at the GPS coordinates of your weekend driving. Paranoid about them knowing where you are and what you're doing? Buy and use a personal car.

[Pericoloso]

Wearing a tinfoil hat at the wheel will confuse the tracking signal ,I recommend that...

[Crippo]

I’d drive aggressively every where, not nessasary speeding, but good hard cornering, heavy braking, good dollops of acceleration. See how that goes with their desire to lower costs. If you treat people like imbeciles then it’s our patriotic duty to act like one.