allowance stopped, what can I do?

[plunty]

When I inquired about my job which is 50 miles from home they said I would get an allowance for the mileage and for the first 9 months I did but now someone has found out that's only if your married, I'm not so they are to stop the allowance and also take back what has been paid. This has affected a few of us some live closer and are not to bothered but I am leaving the job as I do a 100 mile round trip a day and its a drop of over �200 a month. Now the recruiter is wrong to tell people that they would get it but the fact they started paying it means he was not alone in thinking we would get it. I don't want to leave the job but I have to for finance reasons. Do I have a claim for loss of great career and pension, or any claim?

[Didwot]

If you were told, prior to accepting the job, that you would be paid travelling expenses (which will of course be subject to tax) then that should comprise a term of your contract of employment. I would suggest that you politely tell your employer that you would like him to stick to the terms agreed, and that you stay on at your job. If your employer fails to make the payments then you would be entitled to sue him. You would need to satisyfy a court that you were right about what was promised, and it would be a good idea to get the names and addresses of colleagues who were offered the same terms. It would also be a good idea to wait until you had been employed for at least a year so that you would have the right not to be unfairly dismissed.
Your employer is not allowed to simply "take back" any money from you. This would be an unlawful deduction from your wages, unless you had agreed to it in writing.
Leaving your job would not be the best idea. Your claim against your employer would be limited to the losses caused by his breach of contract, not by what you did afterwards. Claimants are expected to try to keep their losses to a minimum, and not increase them.

[Miss Zippy]

Why would you only get an allowance if you're married?  Sounds like sex discrimation as it is more likely to be married men, rather than married women, that would commute that distance to work, hence men are more likely to be eligible for the allowance. I would raise that point with your employer. As Didwot says, if payment of the expenses is a term of your contract of employment you may well have a claim for breach of contract. Alternatively, could you speak to your employer about increasing your salary to take account of this loss?  As a general guide, each �1,000 of your annual salary equates to �60 net each month (obviously a bit less once you reach the higher rate tax band) so you need to seek a salary increase of about �3,500 p.a.

[plunty]

I�ve looked into the discrimination and apparently there is no discrimination against single but there can be against married people, any feed back on that?

[saffstar]

Anyone can be discriminated against.  If you're in the UK, make an appointment with Citizen's Advice, or try ringing ACAS.  It all sounds a bit 1940s to me, they surely can't have married people working for them on one set of terms & conditions and single people on another.

[Miss Zippy]

Plunty � I obviously don�t know the full facts, but just on the face on what you say I cannot see on what basis it is lawful to discriminate against married and unmarried persons in paying this allowance. Depending on how much you want to stay in the job, you might want to seek some professional advice on this point to see exactly where you stand. Go to your local CAB as Saffstar recommends and/or make an appointment to see a solicitor specialising in employment law � many solicitors offer a free no-obligation 30 minute consultation after which they should be able to tell you where you stand and what your options are.  Once you�ve received some advice, if it is in your favour, I would arrange a �friendly� meeting with your employer to discuss your findings with a view to reaching an agreement to keep the allowance.