To think I have effectively been dismissed?

[Autumnwindinthewillows]

I worked at an office less than 5 mins walk from a major transport hub. The firm then moved to an office with no easily accessible public transport but the arrangement at the time (or so i thought) was that staff with cars would pick me up from the old office. With staff changes this is no longer happening and I cannot get to work without an hour long journey on public transport plus a 1.5 mile walk which is not feasible.

The bosses have basically reneged on the deal and said it is my problem so it would seem i am out of a job. Can I claim constructive dismissal?

OP your crime here was believing your boss could actually promise something like that on your colleagues' behalf. They probably said it at the time, thinking x and y were travelling through and it wouldn't be a problem, without thinking of the long term. They can not enforce any employee to chauffeur another around.

Why would commuting make you unwell - plenty of people do it. What is your disability if you don't mind saying?

OP I feel for you having a nightmare commute but I don't understand it. You said the office has moved 1.5 miles away so your commute is now 1 hour plus 1.5 mile walk, but that previously your commute was 10 mins. If the office had moved 1.5 miles, why has the public transport bit increased?

Thanks - OP, ignore me about the contract, listen to Milly instead.

I seem to recall that a company has to consult its employees when it moves offices to identify exactly this sort of problem. If your journey time has significantly increased, then they should be compensating you in some way or allowing you to take redundancy.

I don't believe they can oblige your colleagues to give you a lift. But they could be springing for a taxi perhaps? For a limited period only though.

Get some legal advice.

I’d rather you go off sick.

Reduced hours for reduced pay would be an ok suggestion. You can’t demand full pay for reduced hours and then threaten them with long term sickness if they refuse to comply.

Think you’ve been a bit naive. Doesn’t sound like your company made any “lift” promises in writing or as part of your employment contract. Sounds more like you questioned the transport and the boss made a throwaway casual comment about lifts and didn’t think for a second that you might take this as a literal promise.

Reduced hours for reduced pay would be a good compromise unless they can let you work from home - if it is at all possible.

MyKingdomForBrie
No disability was mentioned in the opening post.
Unfortunately (though understandably), people take a dim view of others wanting lifts routinely.

There is a difference between:

1. it's inconvenient and a pain. How do i talk to work and explore reasomable adjustments and try to find possible solutions

And

1. To act like colleagues (including new people) should be giving lifts for an indefinite period of time and failure to get that means trying to push a constructive dismissal claim or unilaterally refusing to work contracted hours.

Situation 1 is understandable. Situation 2 come across (rightly or wrongly) like trying to find a reason to blame someone else or make someone else tale responsibility for your travel arrangements & might have affected replies.

@Jaxhog companies only have to pay redundancy if the employee has been working there for at least two years. OP hasn't.

Consultation periods are just procedure, and only 30 days for small companies. It's a chance for employees to air their views but rarely reverses the decision.

There's no point OP seeking legal advice. She is entitled to nothing as she hasn't been there two years. The only way she'd win is if she has strong evidence to claim discrimination which she doesn't. Plus, it's all very well saying 'seek legal advice', but it costs a lot of money!

OP maybe you should offer to pay your colleagues a small amount for petrol? I can imagine some feeling a bit put out if you're expecting it all for free.

While I sympathise about the move and how difficult it has made it for you, did you really think it was reasonable to expect someone new to the job to agree to drive you to work every day?

Haven't RTFT so apologies if I repeat things others have said - but it depends what is reasonable for your role. If you are a highly paid professional then it's probably not unreasonable (unless the medical grounds constitute a disability) but it would be totally unfair for someone on minimum wage. I used to work in HR and we closed a lot of sites and moved things about - we had agreements with the unions as to what levels of staff could be expected to move how far away etc.

I agree with PPs - ring ACAS. Unless you're earning at least maybe £25/30K (total guesstimate) it is probably not reasonable - and they would need to pay you redundancy as your previous job no longer exists. (They would also need to go through correct redundancy procedures - or maybe you could go for constructive dismissal if they haven't done it properly).

If you're earning more than whatever figure then you'll need to decide whether you still want the job. Either way - ACAS should be able to help. I assume you aren't in a union?

Hope this helps - good luck.

@lunchboxloony OP hasn't been working there two years, so can't claim redundancy or unfair dismissal.

"It's gone from a 10 minute commute to 1.5 hours. Adding 3 hours to my working day"

Has your office moving 1.5miles down the road REALLY had that impact on your commute?

Get a written quote from a taxi firm for a daily return journey. Ask for a pay rise for this amount. Might work!!!

Speak to your employer NICELY about how they can help you resolve this.
If they're unwilling to help, or at least empathise that they've got you into this situation, do you really want to work for them anyway?

By all means look for something else, but you may struggle to find something with a short and cheap commute. Most of us have to compromise on at least one of those.

Depending on your disability can you get a little folding commuter ebike for the last leg?

I'm sorry but your employers can't promise lifts on behalf of other employees. Especially if they are not paying the business insurance cover for those employees.

Were you paying petrol money to the drivers that were giving you lifts?

So your office was originally less than 5 mins walk from a major transport hub

But now I cannot get to work without an hour long journey on public transport plus a 1.5 mile walk which is not feasible

You have mentioned that the lifts from colleagues were to save you the 1.5 mile walk, which means you always had the hour long bus journey. So you always commuted two hours a day on the bus and it is the extra 3 miles a day which will make you too ill to work?

How high a percentage of your income would the taxi cost be to make it unviable for you to continue to work?

I think the OP has exaggerated somewhat.

I'm not expecting a lift from home - only from the old office which is 1.5 miles away The quote to support my question as to whether an increase of only 3 miles a day to your commute will be make you too ill to work.

The drivers benefited from the move as they no longer pay for £10 per day for parking....Paying £10 per day for a taxi makes it uneconomical for me to work
Your car driving colleagues could afford to pay £10 a day, do you earn a lower salary meaning you can’t afford the £10 a day?

As I said previously, it's really not your colleagues' responsibility to drive you to/ from work & old office.

Actually, I think that you're lucky that they've done it up to now, but you can't expect someone that doesn't know you to do this indefinitely (or even someone that does).

I really don't think you can factor in your commuting time unless that is allowed for in your contract. (Are you paid for travelling time? I never have been.)
That's the base of the issue here.
The company isn't responsible for people who left who were willing to give you a lift, nor for people who are now unwilling to take you to work.
It's a tough place to be in, but I think if you can, the only way forward for this particular job is to move closer.
They may be willing to reduce your working hours or let you work from home, but if it's not in your contract, you might not have a way forward, sorry.

Can you get a fold up bike and explore a different commute . And look for a new job in parelell ?

I don’t think you have a legal case to be honest

Were you not made aware of Access to Work when they proposed the chnage of,location?

I haven't seen you say whether you were paying your colleagues petrol money for the lifts previously, OP. Sorry if I've missed it, but were you?

Think a relocation of 1.5miles would not be deemed so far as to be unreasonable. Your basic commute has not changed, if it causes you an issue now it must have done previously. How long has it been since the office moved? Access to Work may be able to propose taxi costs are covered, assuming you have a recognised disability.

I wouldn’t pick you up either in all honesty.
I pay £260 pm for my car. Then pay for fuel, road tax, insurance and maintenance... and you want a free ride? Not a chance.