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AIBU?

Being made to work an extra 20 minutes unpaid a day

234 replies

GettingTiredNow · 25/08/2016 19:43

I work in the admin base of the local NHS health authority, there are about 100 of us in our offices and nowhere near that number of car parking spaces. We double park which is ok but as more people have joined the organisation recently even that is not enough on some days. The powers that be have rented 10 additional spaces at the railway station down the road about a 10 minute walk away.

These 10 parking spaces have been allocated randomly to staff on a rota, each directorate is doing its own thing so you can end up with either a week there every 6 months or 3 months there as a one off. And I'm 1 of the lucky 10 who have been blessed with a pass Hmm

Us lucky 10 have been told that the time it takes us to travel back and forth to the car park needs to come out of our time and not the organisations. If we are late we need to email our boss with an expanation of how the time will be made back up.

I need to take my DC to school in the morning and the afternoon which fits within my working hours but a trip back and forth to the car park means I'm going to be early to school in the morning and late to pick up in the afternoon to ensure I'm at work for my contracted time.

AIBU to expect that as I am effectively helping the organisation out by walking down to the car park this shouldn't come out of my time?

OP posts:
iamtheurbanspacemanbaby · 25/08/2016 19:45

Biscuit seriously?!

RedHelenB · 25/08/2016 19:47

Yabu as not everyone can drive/ park near work but would still be expected to start work on time.

JenLindleyShitMom · 25/08/2016 19:47

Is this a joke?

HerRoyalNotness · 25/08/2016 19:47

Your day starts When you reach your work desk/station, how long your commute is, has got nothing to do with work. That includes where you have to park, that's part of your commute.

Dazedandconfusedtoomuchpeppa · 25/08/2016 19:49

YABU

BlueberryJuice · 25/08/2016 19:49

A pita i agree, but yabu, they pay you from when you start work, as in actually at your desk, they do not pay you to walk to and from a car park

GettingTiredNow · 25/08/2016 19:50

No not a joke. But this wasn't part of my commute for the last 5 years I've done this job, the place I park has just changed for just 10 of us this month.

OP posts:
Gazelda · 25/08/2016 19:50

So for your colleagues who don't have a pass, and have to park maybe 30 mins walk away, do you think they should start work at 9.30 and leave at 4.30?

GettingTiredNow · 25/08/2016 19:51

Everyone else parks in the office car park, 10 seconds outside the door.

OP posts:
YouTheCat · 25/08/2016 19:51

OP, I get paid from 9am. I set off at 8am and then walk for 30 minutes and, once I'm at work, I have to start setting up at 8.30 or I'd not be ready to start at 9. I'd love to be paid from 8.30, when I am actually working (in a minimum wage job) but to be expected to have your travelling time paid as well is daft.

mrschatty · 25/08/2016 19:51

Wtf!!

My old work place had an offside "car park" read barren dangerous wasteland which took 20mins to walk to from office...that's part of the commute
Yabu.
If you were helping work out by getting the bus so someone else could get the space would you expect to be paid for your time on the bus Hmm
Unbelievable

worldsworstchildren · 25/08/2016 19:52

Having a parking space is very much a perk so I don't think you're going to find much sympathy here I'm afraid.
I have to drive to train station pay £8 per day to park and then get in a train for another 40 minutes. That's just the way it is. No company cares how you get to work. Travelling time is not part of your job description!

Moreisnnogedag · 25/08/2016 19:52

Afraid I agree that YABU. Lots of places don't have onsite parking or it's a bit of a walk away. Our staff car park is a bit of a trek and I can't imagine anyone saying that it's when you arrive at the car park that's important.

Minisoksmakehardwork · 25/08/2016 19:52

Hmmm. My start time was time at the gate, even if it took half an hour to get in. Our nhs colleagues was time at the desk, so if they got held up getting in, they had to make the time up. We agreed it was unfair but nothing we could do so I do understand where you are coming from.

However, you have the choice to either decline the guaranteed space and take pot luck when you get to work or use the permit spot until your time with the permit is up and it becomes someone else's problem to make up the time.

As it's only going to be for a max 3 month period, and I assume you factor in travelling time to and from school in case of hold ups, those 10 minutes might have to eat into that.

You could also see it as a chance to do some brisk walking and maybe cut the walk down a bit.

SomedayBaby · 25/08/2016 19:54

No, the time it takes you to travel to and from the car park shouldn't come out of your standard working hours - that would be ridiculous.

However, there should be a process where you can apply for an exception IMO.

My company has a similar scheme - a rota where once a month or so you park at a rented car park around 10 minutes away. They have a park and ride facility, so it's free to get from the car park to work on their bus and vice versa.

It would be horrendously difficult for me to do it though because I start work at 8.30am and the earliest the dc could be dropped off at breakfast club is 8.10am - it takes me just over ten minutes to drive to work and having to park at the alternative site and catch the bus would definitely make me late, every day.

I was dubious but raised it with management and got an immediate exception, which they've done for a few people with caring/school times problems. Just explain how difficult it is for you and see what they say.

whatishistory · 25/08/2016 19:55

Is it in your contract that work will provide you with free parking adjacent to your place of work?

If not, YABU.

My work (a univeristy) charges us £450 a year to park in their car parks--no guarantee of a space and certainly not enough places. Some of the car parks are 10 minutes walk away.

OhTheRoses · 25/08/2016 19:55

This is what is wrong with the NHS. You are being provided with free parking. If you don't like it use public transport.

My first ever Biscuit

Now FFS DFOD. And I am not a swearer but by golly I'd like to be your line manager. Doubt you'd like it though.

frikadela01 · 25/08/2016 19:56

Yabu. I've worked in loads of places where parking is an issue. Hell ask anybody go works in a city centre and they'll tell you the same. It's your problem not your employers. They've actually been really good to get the 10 extra spaces for you.

The last hospital I worked in didn't have any staff parking at all, you just parked in the normal car park and paid like everyone else. I bet you can guess how expensive that was every month. Hmm

Ineededtonamechange · 25/08/2016 19:56

If work decided to move 10 minutes up the road, I would expect some flexibility with start/finish times to accommodate changes in commute.

YANBU to be frustrated, but they ANBU to make it come out of your time. I'd just ask for a bit of flexibility for timings to fit in with the new commute.

Mind you - that is cutting your commute quite fine if this is a real issue for you...

AllOutOfNaiceHam · 25/08/2016 19:57

Is this a reverse of sorts? Hmm

GettingTiredNow · 25/08/2016 19:57

'However, you have the choice to either decline the guaranteed space and take pot luck when you get to work or use the permit spot until your time with the permit is up and it becomes someone else's problem to make up the time. '

I don't have the choice sadly.

OP posts:
AlfrescoBalconyWanker · 25/08/2016 19:59

I used to work somewhere with limited parking - we were only allowed to park onsite for 3 weeks of 4 - gate passes didn't work on the 4th week. We had to park at a building site car park down the road, wait for a company bus, then sit in traffic until it made it back to site. It's really quite normal not to be able to park outside where you work.

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LottieL · 25/08/2016 20:01

You always have a choice: use the space or don't.
I used to work a 45 minute drive away, with my working day starting at 8:30. They didn't care how early I had to wake up, how long it took me to drive, nor should they care.

OddBoots · 25/08/2016 20:01

It's not working, it's a slightly further commute. Maybe your employer should start charging for parking with the further spots being slightly cheaper than the nearer ones.

flowery · 25/08/2016 20:01

I'm confused. Your thread title says you are being asked to work an extra 20 minutes a day unpaid however there is no reference to this in your post.

Your post then says that your employer having gone to the trouble and expense of sourcing guaranteed free parking for you is somehow you helping them out.

Presumably you would therefore prefer a first-come-first-served, everyone-else-has-to-park-miles-away scenario?

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