Hi, i work as a tramper, i do a set amount of nights out per week and go home tuesday nights, every week. however, during the jubilee week tuesday was a bank holiday for some, and not for others (strange company policy, i was told i had to work, others had to have the day off), however, towards the end of the day i realised i would not be able to do my deliveries and then drive back to base due to me being loaded late and being held up at one of my deliveries. i called the office at 1630 to notify them that it wasnt looking good for me to finish at 1830 as the 15hr rule would then be exceeded. i was quite happy for them to arrange to pick me up etc as i was just looking forward to a nice night in my own bed after eating some cooked food. i eventually managed to get hold of someone by calling their mobile because they had all gone home early! when i told them i was going to run out of hours they then said i would have to do a night out, i refused, i said i had not planned for an extra night out, i did not have extra clean clothes, any extra food, or any amount of money on me as i budget for my usual week, plus, the industrial estate i would be stopping in has nowhere near by that i could buy any food from even if i DID have the cash. after MANY phone calls it was established that i HAD to have a night out, i was NOT allowed to return to base as the freight needed to be delivered, and i was NOT allowed to leave the truck in a layby and get my mrs to take me home. i was not happy with this but was beyond trying to argue at this point, so i agreed, begrudgingly, to have a night out in Bristol, provided my mrs could drive to me, then take me somewhere to eat, and then i would be reimbursed the next day. so, she drives down (from cinderford, NOT local! its 50 miles each way) and takes me to the local mcdonalds and we have some food. I decide that due to me blocking off the opposite side of the road to an entrance to part of the industrial estate (no other places available)that i need to leave the area fairly early to avoid being in other peoples way the next day, so instead of my usual 12pm start on a wednesday (after a night at home) i start off at 0530 and head back to the depot in Gloucester.
now, im still a bit annoyed at having to night out, but i get in and if they want to send me out they can, but obviously not my normal run as that wont be ready until too late, so i make my prescence known to the night manager and then stick my tacho on poa, until 11am when the manager i spoke to the previous day comes in and gets angry that i havent stayed in a random tiny estate until 12pm to start my normal shift and says he then WONT pay me what it cost to have my mrs come to me etc…so i got a bit angry and told him a few home truths etc before i simply walked around him into the admin office and produced a receipt for £20 fuel and £9 food, which i deem to be acceptable.
today he calls me into the office to say £20 is too much! for the inconvenience of 100 miles round trip for my mrs? and no option to go home? and him thinking i would sit in the cab for 18hrs with no pay, toilet facilities,clean clothes? i think not.
so…theres a question or 3 in here somewhere!
1.can i be obliged to take a night out by law if there are other options? (i could have left the truck secure after deliveries, as it would then be empty, and got a lift home with my mrs, OR i could have returned to base before delivering and been inside my 15hrs)
2.can i be forced to sit in an area with no access to toilets,food and clean clothes for 18 hrs unpaid (i do NOT believe the o/n payment of £23.60 compensates me here) on a night out that could have been avoided, just to make the next day easier on the planner?
3.can the manager (i use the term loosely)agree to compensate me for my fuel and food and then decide at a later date he doesnt like the amount it actually cost (£20 for 100 miles through rush hour traffic into and through Gloucester and then into Bristol)and tell me he will deduct it from my wages?
