Transport Sector – Useful Employment Law & HR
information
NatWest
Mentor can help your
transport business with its Employment Law compliance and HR
needs.
Transport businesses are subject to a wide range of regulations,
including drivers’ hours regulations, professional competence
requirements, load and vehicle roadworthiness obligations. On top
of all that, you have employment regulations to contend with.
Mentor understands that employment regulation will not be at the
top of your agenda, so trust us to take care of the details.
Working time rules can be a problem
All workers in the transport sector are now covered by the
essential parts of the Working Time Regulations, including holiday
entitlement and maximum working week limits. For drivers, these
rules operate alongside the Drivers’ hours’ regulations.
Understanding these complex rules is no easy task, but VOSA
inspections and enforcement action can result in heavy penalties
and have implications for your operators’ licence.
You should:
- Understand European and GB working time requirements and ensure
your workers adhere to them
- Keep good records of time worked for all your workers. This
includes, but is not limited to, tachograph records
- Ensure all workers understand these requirements and that
appropriate action is taken if breaches are identified. Such action
might include further training or disciplinary action for wilful or
persistent breaches
NatWest
Mentor can provide:
- Online holiday calculating and recording tools recording on
MentorLive
- An Employee Handbook containing Disciplinary rules and
procedures appropriate to your business
- 24/7 telephone advice to help you deal with things such as
working time issues.
You put a lot of trust in your drivers – but can you
deal with it effectively if things go wrong?
Drivers are your most valuable resource. They do much of their
work alone and you put a lot of trust in them that they will do the
job properly. You probably have satellite tracking systems to help
you to locate them. What happens however, when goods go missing, or
drivers aren’t where they are supposed to be? Unclear rules and
inadequate disciplinary procedures could make any dismissal unfair,
and you may not be able to use evidence gathered through
surveillance if you haven’t complied with data protection
rules.
You should:
- Have clear disciplinary rules, setting out what you expect of
your employees
- Ensure staff are aware of monitoring systems, such as satellite
tracking and CCTV, so that data can be used in disciplinary
proceedings if necessary
- Always follow proper disciplinary procedures, including taking
time to investigate all evidence, before dismissing employees.
NatWest
Mentor can provide:
- An Employee Handbook containing conduct rules and procedures
appropriate to your business
- Guidance on monitoring and data protection requirements
- 24/7 telephone advice to help you deal with things such as
disciplinary issues and staff grievances.
You’ll rely on casuals and agency workers when things
get busy
Distribution and logistics businesses are in the front line of
handling seasonal peaks and troughs and you’ll need extra help to
handle things at peak periods.
You might use casual staff – but do you understand what
employment rights they have? If you use agency workers, do you know
that such workers have increased rights to parity with your
permanent staff after 12 weeks’ service?
Getting these things wrong can be costly – because you may find
it difficult to dismiss your “temporary” staff or be liable for the
difference in pay between agency and permanent staff.
You should:
- Review your use of temporary and casual workers, and ensure
they have fit for purpose contracts
- Ensure all workers have entitlement to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday,
as required under Working Time regulations
- Consider how your business uses agency workers and where
possible avoid long-term use that triggers parity rights.
NatWest
Mentor can provide:
- Contracts of employment tailored to the needs of your
business
- Online holiday recording on MentorLive
- 24/7 Advice and support on matters such as the operation of the
Agency Workers’ regulations.