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Original poster

Can my boyfriend be sacked for using company car?

48 replies

bathsdays · 04/11/2022 09:47

My boyfriend is a store manager for a fast food chain.
Now they treat staff appalling which is why they have such a high staff turnover.
He has been the manger for 3 years.
It's a 25 min drive away.
They have him doing store opens at 9am and closing at 1am following day.
He works around 80 hours a week.
With most being 18 hour shifts.
His car broke 2 months ago.
He asked a higher member of the team could he use one of the cars (the shop has 5 clapped out cars which are about 18 years old ) so he can get home after closing the shop.
The latest close is 5 am and earliest is 2am.
Taxi would be over £30
Anyway she said yes (I seen message )
Now they are saying nobody agreed and have organised a meeting with HR to discuss his honestly and if he can continue being manager .

Il just add he has had ill health and on his return to work it was signed off that he would never do a close at work.
They then made him do the closes
Also 2 other managers (who are friends with senior management are driving Round in cars)
And a former store manager has just got a job as area manager and he can't drive (the job is for drivers only)
So they are paying for his driving lessons.

A few weeks ago my boyfriend got a text from a friend who manages another store who said he heard he was being replaced by another store manager (who happens to the ceo of the company's wife's brother )
HR is made up of her two sisters
I don't trust them at all
This is a big company as well

Can he loose his job here?

OP posts:
Notacompetitiveundereater · 04/11/2022 09:49

Well if you have the message proving it as you said I can’t see how. Why hasn’t he just sent them it to prove approval was given?

Original poster
bathsdays · 04/11/2022 09:52

Because the messages are in a group which deletes after 28 days
You can see the date and person he spoke too but message is gone.

OP posts:
fruitbrewhaha · 04/11/2022 09:56

He cannot be fired for doing something they allow another member of staff to do. So can he prove there are other store managers that drive the companys cars?

They sound awful. He has worked incredibly hard, and very long hours. Hospitality id crying out for people at the moment, I;m sure he will find another job very quickly.

Mosaic123 · 04/11/2022 09:57

What happened about insurance on the car? Did the company arrange insurance for him?

Theunamedcat · 04/11/2022 09:58

bathsdays · 04/11/2022 09:52

Because the messages are in a group which deletes after 28 days
You can see the date and person he spoke too but message is gone.

Can he get the message back?

fruitbrewhaha · 04/11/2022 09:58

I wonder if they thought he just needed to use a car for a couple of days or so until his car was fixed. It's been two months.

Original poster
bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:02

Yep he was insured as the manager he can drive it as long as it's in work hours.
That's literally the only time he used it
The cars are sat at back of shop.
Two recently had to be scrapped as they failed mot.
The one he was driving probably will fail too as there's lots wrong with it.

OP posts:
Original poster
bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:03

Yeah he can prove the other manager drives around in it as he sometimes comes to he's shop in it.
It's common knowledge
They won't care about that tho as he is their friend.
Going to each other's weddings etc

OP posts:
TimeForMeToF1y · 04/11/2022 10:03

No one can tell you whether he'll lose his job but I'm sure knowledgeable posters will tell you the proper way to go about things with regard to employment law

It sounds like it won't be simple so I'd say he should prepare for trouble

BobbyBobbyBobby · 04/11/2022 10:05

The man that owns this business doesn’t happen to be called Ron?

Original poster
bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:05

He has 10 years of manger experience
I've told him to look for something else
The thing is also he works all them hours but gets paid a fixed pay.
He gets £1,500 a month after tax regardless of hours work.
He knows the other manager (who drives the car too ) gets paid per hour

OP posts:
Shitzngiggles · 04/11/2022 10:10

Surely thats below NMW doing all those hours?

Original poster
bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:11

Yeah it is but because his salary is fixed that's al they pay him.

OP posts:
BarbaraofSeville · 04/11/2022 10:11

You've posted about him and this job before haven't you?

Maybe it will be good if he is sacked, then he can find a job where he isn't treated as badly and paid as little as he is in his current job?

CourtneeLuv · 04/11/2022 10:12

Mosaic123 · 04/11/2022 09:57

What happened about insurance on the car? Did the company arrange insurance for him?

You can get fleet insurance.

Brieeeeeeeee · 04/11/2022 10:14

bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:11

Yeah it is but because his salary is fixed that's al they pay him.

Does he want a new job?

Original poster
bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:15

Yes I've posted around a month or so ago
I think he does -it's just the fear of unknown of new job
He worked so hard to become manager

OP posts:
BobbyBobbyBobby · 04/11/2022 10:16

bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:15

Yes I've posted around a month or so ago
I think he does -it's just the fear of unknown of new job
He worked so hard to become manager

Is it anything to do with the Mounsey family owning the business. Ron or his daughter Pippa?

Original poster
bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:18

No that's not the chain

OP posts:
BarbaraofSeville · 04/11/2022 10:22

bathsdays · 04/11/2022 10:15

Yes I've posted around a month or so ago
I think he does -it's just the fear of unknown of new job
He worked so hard to become manager

Aldi have just announced that they will start to pay all their staff at least £11 an hour from January. That's entry level store assistant, so for full time hours likely to be about the same as what your boyfriend earns as a manager where he is now.

Plus Aldi pay their managers two or three times that amount, and also get a company car. I'd be checking them out if I were him.

cheerfulpanda · 04/11/2022 10:23

If he works 80 hour weeks and his take home is £1500 a month he’s not even getting minimum wage! I would be encouraging him to:

  1. look for a new job
  2. speak to ACAS about making a claim against his employer
rookiemere · 04/11/2022 10:23

Well I think they would be idiots to sack him with him working all those hours. If I were him I'd try to prove that he had been allowed to use the car,eat a bit of humble pie to not get sacked and look for something new. Sounds awful.

FlounderingFruitcake · 04/11/2022 10:28

It’s insane he’s working all those hours for such little money (way below minimum wage) and is so willing to be treated like crap. Given the shortages in hospitality at the moment and his experience it really shouldn’t be hard for him to something better. You shouldn’t be asking if he’ll get fired for the car nonsense, you should be asking WTAF is wrong with him. It’s baffling. The only thing he should be doing is job hunting and talking to ACAS about claiming for being paid below minimum
wage.

LearnerCook · 04/11/2022 10:39

This company sounds awful. And law-breaking, too. Here's a link to ACA advice:

www.acas.org.uk/national-minimum-wage-entitlement/if-an-employer-does-not-pay-minimum-wage

Another employer will be more than happy to snap up a conscientious, hard worker like your partner. Employees deserve better.

DisplayPurposesOnly · 04/11/2022 10:52

he was insured as the manager he can drive it as long as it's in work hours.

This worries me. Driving home after he's finished work is not 'in work hours' so he is not insured.