Raw deal or just hard luck at work ?

Graham00

Graham00

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Graham Mc
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I work for a small company where there's 2 of us in the workshop making components while all the other lads are fitters, they work mainly in pairs and have a works van which they drive from home to site everyday on the company fuel and also they got travelling time when they leave home plus they book until they arrive home in the evening.
Now it takes me half an hour each way (unpaid) to get to work on my own fuel (unpaid) not to mention all the other things like tyre wear etc etc, also the fitters don't get paid time and a half overtime because of these perks, so i can't have time and a half as they don't get it :thumbsdown:
I thought it was law that companies paid overtime rate but doesn't seem to be the case, so i've stopped doing the odd hour or so, i'm starting to feel hacked off everyday and feel worthless even though i'm good at my job.
It really hits home when the boss casually says to a fitter he can have the rest of the day off paid when we have to grind out the rest of the day ! :(

Should i just carry on or look elsewhere ? or do i have a case for a complete change, especially as winter's coming and the heating is rarely on when it's 4 degrees in the workshop.
 
I think I'd looking for somewhere else, but these are tough times &
a). there may not be anything else around.
b). your boss probably knows that & will/could exploit the situation.

The other alternative would be to become a fitter ;)
 
Ask your oppo how he feels about it, maybe if the two of you approach the boss you can work something out.

The company I work for don't pay overtime, we get the same hourly rate no matter how long we work.
 
Thanks, it's more about the unfairness factor, the balance is more in their (fitters) favour, we work hard and to know they're virtually unsupervised anyway they have longer tea breaks etc. The other bloke bikes it in and lives locally
 
I am not going to be your best grahamo, my take on it is basically this, tough.

They have a different job description a different job, they get paid differently with perks.

Thats Life.
 
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They call it hard luck :D Dont moan cos tomorrow you could be out of work, your jobseekers allowance will stop after 6 months, you will get very little help despite what you read or hear to get you back into work. You may find yourself still out of work 8 months down the road despite applying for loads of jobs anything from a cleaner upwards. Your self belief will take a dive, you will become irritable and your marriage or relationship will suffer, you will start feeling depressed no matter how strong a person you think you are. If you are lucky you wont have to attend your first childs wedding and not be able to afford to spend a lot on a gift, you might have to wear that pair of shoes you bought from Oxfam two weeks previous. Feeling any better yet? Oh and if it helps then try spending a year working on somewhere like the Severn bridge when it was being built, where 4 degrees was a warm one ;)
 
and i will put it simpler , be grateful you are in work :)
 
If people are getting company vehicles to drive home then that is taxable and the firm is committing an offence by not collecting tax and keeping a record of vehicle journeys.
 
I'm going to buck the trend here, but I think if you're being crapped on, and feel that they are taking the mickey out of you, you should move on. Times are hard yes, but that's not an excuse for companies to pull a fast one on their best staff!

I'm in a similar predicament to you, people around me seem to be getting a much better deal at the moment at my work, so I thought sod it, lets have a look what's around at the moment closer to home, on a similar salary - I applied for a job the Saturday before last, got a phone call on the Monday re an interview, interview last Thursday, and have invited back for a 2nd interview next week (1 in 2 chance of getting the job). I know that they definitely value their staff, and have a good development program for their employees, so if I get it I'm laughing!

The grass is greener!!! (especially if you bump the contrast in PS!! ;) )
 
arclight said:
If people are getting company vehicles to drive home then that is taxable and the firm is committing an offence by not collecting tax and keeping a record of vehicle journeys.
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That depends slightly if there based from 'home' and there not allowed to use the van for private use then its not taxable. But sounds strange here, question id have to ask is why do they get a company van?

Unless that has changed very very recently.
 
If the van is a dedicated vehicle fitted out for the work and therefore inappropriate for private use then there is no tax to pay. This is a relatively new system since they brought in the new regime on van taxable benefit ( 4 years ago?)

However this rule specifically mentions not using it for the weekly shop, so realistically no private use at all is allowed (other than getting to work) or they may get taxed.

I think you have to accept that different people have different skills and get paid accordingly. If you want to be a fitter then perhaps approach your boss about that for when an opening becomes available.

Alternatively have a look around to see what else is out there, though times are tough and I think getting tougher.

as to the temperature, this may help if you want to raise it with your boss.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/temperature.htm
 
The van does not have to be "fitted out" just needs to used purely for work including travelling to and from place of work.

Having said that even in HM Revenue & Customs literature does say the occasional trip to the tip will be allowed.

Mind you have any of you tried to take any of your household waste in a van to a tip? For most councils it is a big no no unless you have a permit
 
munch said:
Having said that even in HM Revenue & Customs literature does say the occasional trip to the tip will be allowed.

Mind you have any of you tried to take any of your household waste in a van to a tip? For most councils it is a big no no unless you have a permit
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Didnt know that although you may be in trouble with the company's insurance if you went to the tip on none work days.

Using a van these daysat tips is a pain, shouldnt be issue but you will need to fill a form in stating its house hold rubbish and every visit is the monitored to see how much your tipping.
 
munch said:
The van does not have to be "fitted out" just needs to used purely for work including travelling to and from place of work.
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If the van isn't fitted out then there will be a taxable benefit of £3000 without free fuel and £3500 with free fuel.

If the van is fitted out then there is no tax to pay, as I said.

We operate both, one is charged and one isn't. HMRC made that decision after sending us a questionnaire, we weren't involved in it.

I think the main criteria was whether the van was needed to do the job, or whether it was just needed to get to the job.
 
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Nowhere in HMCR website does it talk about vans being "fitted out" it is not the first time one of HM inspectors have got it wrong,

The following is taken from there website.

Company vans – guidance for employees

You will pay tax on a company van made available to you for private use as follows:

until 5 April 2005, if it is available for private use (including commuting)
from 6 April 2005, only if you actually use it for private journeys other than commuting.
This page provides links to information to help you understand when tax will be charged if you use a company van and how the charge is calculated.
 
This fitted out to prevent private use bussiness sounds a tad odd to me, how exactly do you stop an individual from driving a van or lorry from going to the shop, or driving to a friends house?

Thats a serious question, as i have never any where seen or heard of this. Quite simply if the company states you can not use the vehicle for private use then its not taxable, otherwise if the company hired a car for an employee to drive to job thats say 500miles as it cheaper or the only option to get the employee there. Then that could end being a taxable bennifit. Or again if your normal van is in for a service/repair and you get a normal hire van again would you end up being liable for a taxable bennifit?
 
I used to have a company van about 4-5 years ago and at first i was being taxed £4 a month to use it for personal use including fuel. Then the rules were changed and over 12 months it slowly increased until it was around £70 a month.

I now have a car instead and have to log all the business miles i do and the excess miles are classed as personal use. If the tax office do an audit and the numbers dont add up i can be liable for the tax on all the fuel that has been put in the car not just the fuel for personal use.
 
mikeward said:
I used to have a company van about 4-5 years ago and at first i was being taxed £4 a month to use it for personal use including fuel. Then the rules were changed and over 12 months it slowly increased until it was around £70 a month.

I now have a car instead and have to log all the business miles i do and the excess miles are classed as personal use. If the tax office do an audit and the numbers dont add up i can be liable for the tax on all the fuel that has been put in the car not just the fuel for personal use.
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I used to run a van too as it was tax efficient, but now I have a car because I pay less in income tax for that than I did for a van based on the same chassis.

The tax rules that allow you to have a van with no taxable benefit are the ones that say if you need the vehicle to do your work and you are not allowed to do any private mileage in it.

In order not to pay any tax on a van you need to demonstrate that you need the vehicle for work, rather than simply needing it to get to work. If you just have a van rather than a car to commute to work then that is private use and is therefore taxable.

In the same way as keeping mileage records is used to prove to the inspectors that you are following the rules they pay an equal interest in how the vans are used. They need to have it demonstrated that the van is needed for work, not simply to get to work.

When they assessed us so that we no longer needed to collect tax on our fitter's vans the fact that they were fitted with shelving and carried all of the tools and equipment required to do the job was accepted as automatic qualification.
 
I think the reason that what I've said is causing some confusion is because people might infer that I'm saying without the van being fitted out you can't have it tax free.

I haven't said that. There could be any number of reasons why your job required a van, for example a delivery vehicle which wouldn't require any modification at all.

However we were talking about fitters and whether or not they would be paying tax. A fitter doesn't necessarily need the van fitted out either, but one way or another HMRC will require evidence that the vehicle is required for work and that any private use is insignificant. HMRC have decided that one of the things they will accept as evidence of that is the fitting out.

Edit: Looking back, I started saying that but then changed, so I was wrong. It is as I say that HMRC will accept fitting out as evidence that the vehicle is required for work, but it isn't a requirement because not all vans need modification.
 
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I am doing the exact same job as a colleague and i'm stuck on £7,000 a year less than him. Its a mixture of an old fashioned agest company (he's older and got pay rises when I didn't) and the fact I previously left the company and came back and obviously the current economical situation hasn't helped.

To me that a raw deal but I kind of like my job so i'm willing to hold out.

If your not happy about your situation/job maybe it's time to move on.
 
if we do any time outside of our agreed contract we don't get any extra, just the same standard day rate for a 12 hour shift, we do get a few perks though, paid door to door and the taxman doesn't get a penny :D foods rubbish though and get treated like dirt
 
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Unhappy Raw deal or just hard luck at work ?

I can't believe that this thread has been going this long without someone saying that Raw is better than JPEG :D
 
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