Relocation Of Work

[Greedyfly]

Hello

My husbands work has decided to move premises. The business has less than 8 employees and there are no mobility clauses in the contracts.

The move will be around 20 miles away. This is about an hours travel each way 5 days a week.

Currently he can walk to work so we have no travel costs. With the move he would have to drive to and from work each day. He could car share.

Where does he stand with ‘reasonable travel’ and the incurred cost.

His employer has not offered any compensation to help ease the added cost of travel or the extra time it will take to get there.

My husband often works from 7am until 5pm each day, without an official lunch break and we are about to have a baby so out income will reduce dramatically as I will be reducing my hours of work.

I have looked at the gov website and it suggests the possibility of redundancy but I am sure this will not be offered. It also suggests my husband can refuse to relocate but surely this is the same as quitting?

Official Gov info -

“Employees without a mobility clause in their contract can choose whether or not to move.

Employers can make their employees redundant if they decide not to move.

Employees may have a right to redundancy pay if:

they match the redundancy criteria - eg they’ve worked for the employer for a certain amount of time
they’re not getting any compensation from their employer because they decided not to move
they haven’t ‘unreasonably’ refused an offer of suitable alternative work

‘Unreasonable’ could mean refusing to move even though the new location is nearby and the employee could drive or easily take public transport

Employers don’t have to offer employees any compensation for relocating, unless it’s specified in their contract”

Any advice please besides finding another job or moving house, which is not possible.

Thanks

GF

[fiction-factory]

It seems to me that unless he can convince them that one hour's commute is unreasonable then the offer is reasonable then he will not be eligible for redundancy. I don't see any obligation on the employer to compensate him for extra travelling costs/time but it may be worth asking

[EDDIE51]

Sorry but I have to agree with f f . An hour's travel is normal now it will not be considered unreasonable.
( I used to travel 2 hours a day each way)

[EDDIE51]

^^ An hour seems a long time to drive 20 miles unless it is in a city center . I used to drive that far to work in under 30 mins without speeding.

[albaqwerty]

People who claim benefits are told by the DWP that one hour of travel, door to door is required, from home to workplace and back again.

I'm sorry to say that either he sucks this up or he looks for another job closer to home.

If he uses public transport, remember there are weekly tickets available.

[atalanta]

I know of a similar case, where the new travel time was about three quarters of an hour. The employers agreed to provide free parking for 2 years for those affected, and a further year of half-price season ticket for parking. The employers stressed that they had no obligation to do even that. However, they did agree and help ( e.g,. with home-office alterations ) where employees wanted to arrange to work from home instead of commuting.

[murraymints]

20 miles is nowt ! he has been rather spoiled being able to walk in and out... and 20 miles should take about half an hour ? hardly relocation.. I have moved home 4 times around the UK because of work relocation...

[Greedyfly]

Thanks all for your answers.

We live in a very busy city so an hour is conservative.

Taking into account changes plus added cost to childcare, cost of driving to and from and the added 2 hours onto an already 8 hour day without breaks I
I feel it is unreasonable as does he. Especially as he is contracted to work in the premises he currently works at.

He’s going to discuss with the boss as it’s not only him affected.

[murraymints]

then he needs to address the breaks situation..as for the commuting, don't hold your breath.. my commute from St Albans was nearly 2 hours each way..not uncommon

[waterboatman]

Wait for the outcome of those talks.

[thugulike]

If it were me I would comply with the move after first trying to come to an agreement over the increased travel costs and extra time. I would suggest that you calculate the cost (being reasonable) and time and suggest a period of time this will be available, try for 2 years. In the meantime, whilst he is still employed, he can look for a more convenient location