It’s a parking one at work!!

[Bargebill19]

So, I work part time as a cleaner. I drive a new car. I do 4 hours. Everyone else works 7-7 shifts. I’m out by 11am.

I have been told by the managing director that I must park my car at the front of double bays, not at the rear and always facing forward to avoid doors clashing and using reverse gear.
There are 200 spaces and only 20 cars on site at anyone time.
There is no signage to say forward parking only.
Nothing in my contract to say there are parking rules.
Not site specific rules anywhere.
I parked in space A facing forward to drive straight out - in front of me was a night shift car which would be leaving 15 mins after I arrive. I admit I like to park in the first space with a gap either side of me.
Apparently I can only park in spaces BCDEFG etc. Or I can reverse park into a space up at the fence. I do not like these as 1) they are disability spaces 2) they have overhanging trees which loose branches in the wind onto cars parked there.
I could have parked in space E this morning - but cars in D and F have made the space tight and I didn’t want to ding their doors or have them ding mine when there was zero need.
The manager director couldn’t give me a reason as to why I had to park like this other than to avoid using reverse gear - which I would have had to use to get into a fence space - or to get out of one. But apparently that was fine........
When I said he was bonkers - he said the gatehouse will report my car in the morning- I said fine nice to know security will keep an eye on my car! (Security have said they really couldn’t care less!)
There is no reason that is covid related that I can think of, as it is better for cars to be spread out to avoid people accidentally touching each other’s cars rather than parked like sardines. Especially when the majority of people arrive and leave together.
I’m so tempted to park across two spaces tomorrow facing the right way on the right side just to see him get even more annoyed.
FWIW - there are only two female drivers on site the rest are all men - if that makes any difference! Plus my car is the only bright yellow one in a sea of black or white cars.
Anyone have any ideas as to his reasoning before I do park it large???

Companies have no obligation to provide parking. If I was your M.D. I would withdraw your parking rights altogether. Why won't you do as you're told.

@OlaEliza

So the new rule is that you can't reverse out of a space. What would happen if someone in the bay in front of you was taken ill and didn't move their car before the end of your shift?

So OP, what will you do if the person parked in the bay in front of you doesn't move their car for whatever reason?

The things you learn on MN.

If this parking style is so much safer, why don't supermarket car parks and so on have signs up advising it?

@Alsohuman and @Iwalkinmyclothing

Thank you both of you. !

@Iwalkinmyclothing Some supermarkets in some countries do insist on it.

Other supermarkets have pedestrian walkways between the car parking spaces instead.

@Viviennemary

No parking equals no staff that’s why.

No buses, no trains and miles from anywhere.

I do do as I’m told but I’m not a mind reader. There need to be signage. As I’ve already said - my line manager doesn’t even know this is how we are supposed to park.

Would you question why you are given 20 days annual leave and not 21 days?

Well probably you should @Choukette as the minimum is 28 days a year?

@ClaudiaWankleman 20 annual leave days plus 8 bank holiday days equals 28 days leave per year. It's fine for companies to offer 20 days annual leave per year.

@OlaEliza

I would have reversed. Just as I would have to reverse to get in a fence space - but apparently we are not allowed to use reverse gear - according to my MD Yet I’m allowed to reverse into a fence space according to my MD.

8 days are bank holidays.

There are over 1000 spaces at my place of work and often they are all taken. No reverse parking rules required.

@liketoread

Yes and soooo many people are banging on the door to clean a warehouse And offices not!’

"Yes he does need to give me a good reason.
I wouldn’t take a long walk off a short pier just because he told me to."

But that's different because telling you to take a long walk off a short pier would be dangerous and also nothing to do with his company, the site he owns or you being on his premises as his employee. So of course there are plenty of things he can't insist on you doing (whether he gives you a good reason or not), but there are also plenty of things where he absolutely does not have to explain himself to you.

He owns the place and is your boss. If he wanted to insist you only came to work wearing green then he can do so (the same as people have to wear uniforms) and he does not have to explain to you why he has made that choice. If he wants everyone to reverse park into their space then he doesn't have to explain that to you either. He owns the place and is your boss. That doesn't mean I am one of those people who thinks you should never challenge someone who is senior to you. I'm a midwife and have had plenty of arguments with doctors over their suggested care of my patients but that's because there is a reason I am challenging it. There are many doctors who don't like being challenged because they think that I am not equal to them but I believe that they aren't any better than me just because they are doctors. I should be able to raise concerns and not just agree to everything. However, there are ways and means of doing that and usually it involves being respectful in the way that you challenge something as well as knowing if you're actually in a position to challenge it (for example is it an issue where I am fighting for what is best for my patient or do I not like the fact that they have moved the staff parking spaces or something). If I was being told by the Chief Executive of the hospital that we all had to reverse park into a space (I agree that we all should but even if I didn't) then I wouldn't expect him/her to explain their decision to me. As others have said, I guess it really does depend on how much you're willing to either lose your job or have him make your life there miserable just to prove your point.

That is just my response to your answer about him having to explain his reasons to you. My response to your original post is that I'm a bit confused. I don't know if he's been really really unclear in what he said or if it's just how you've written it here. Did he say that you're not allowed to use reverse gear at all and that you aren't allowed to park in space A regardless of whether you reverse park into it? Or did he just say that you have to reverse park into a space? If it's that you have to reverse park into it then I don't think that he's being unreasonable. Even if what you're saying is correct in that the person in the space ahead of you will have left by the time you need to leave, your car has still been parked in the space nose first which is what everyone else will see - that you're not sticking to the rules. Like others have suggested, there are places that are strict about that or where the company could get fined for staff not adhering to the rules. In that situation, the person who is issuing the fine won't accept an explanation that you would have been able to drive out forwards through the space in front as an excuse.

[quote Choukette]@Iwalkinmyclothing Some supermarkets in some countries do insist on it.

Other supermarkets have pedestrian walkways between the car parking spaces instead.[/quote]
In the UK, though, why isn't that the case? I'm genuinely interested- if this way of parking is safer to the extent that if you have it as your policy you get certain accreditation and so on, you'd expect it to be something overtly encouraged in every public car park. I've never heard of it before (I am a non driver though).

Might the "guidelines" have been rolled out by email or a staff meeting, or something like that which you don't get? Our office brought in a reverse parking policy but it was casually launched at a staff meeting rather than it being written down or signs up anywhere. No one really enforces it though and there's some who worryingly claim they can't reverse park. Or he's just a control freak!

This isn't new - its been in the highway code for a long time. It is safer to reverse in and drive forwards out as visibility is better. To be fair he wasn't clear when you asked about the reason for the rule. If he had just said we have asked everyone to do this as its much safer for all car park uses and easier to move about if things get busy etc

As to why not signs in car parks like supermarkets - its pretty obv its safer to reverse in HOWEVER its a pain when loading shopping - hence why I like spaces by walk ways

I suspect this has come about as a result of a H&S Risk assessment (I say this as a H&S Risk Assessor)

I am ridiculously over-invested in this thread.

@emmathedilemma

No idea as I’m just the cleaner! I’m not told or included in any health and safety information. I don’t even appear on the signing in and out sheets for fire safety. I do write my name in as my own risk assessment of the situation deemed they were wrong to not include me. 😊

^@liketoread

Yes and soooo many people are banging on the door to clean a warehouse And offices not!’^

Ummm do you actually believe that?? There are tons of people who would want a cleaning job. If you've lost your job for any reason (currently because of the pandemic which has created mass unemployment) and you have a mortgage and bills to pay, you would take any job you could. Or do you genuinely believe that these people would say "no I would rather be homeless than clean a warehouse or office". I guess if you believe the latter and think yourself to be irreplaceable then it explains a lot about why you spoke to your boss as you did

Just to also say Mumofmany 81 in particular - if you want people to comply they need a good reason for the most part or some sort of skin int he game as they say (ie extra pay or reward for compliance)- you rarely get compliance "because I told you to" unless in armed forces or similar, if you give people a good reason to comply and explain things and reasoning - you will get higher levels of compliance and less fall out.

The reason you shouldn't drive nose first out of the bay in front of you is because someone you've missed may be reversing in to that bay at the same time and you cause an accident.

The reason why reversing in to a bay is accepted as safer than reversing out is because its less likely there will be pedestrians walking around at the back of the bays as opposed to behind your car while you reverse out.

These may be new rules on your site and the news is coming out verbally while they get the literature and signage made up.

This is why your MD doesn't need to explain himself, because he is privy to information that you aren't and considered situations that you don't OP.

Don't most of us, most of the time, just have to suck it up and do what the managing director wants us to do? Obviously not if it's immoral, illegal or dangerous, but if it's just a question of - he thinks this is how to do it, you disagree - well, tough. It's his company. He can make the rules. Workplaces are generally not democracies.

Your attitude is a bit baffling - park across two spaces to get him annoyed? Do you not need this job? Are there so few cleaners where you live that you are irreplaceable? You sound like you lack a basic understanding of the power dynamics of the workplace.

Maybe he used to work at BP where you have to reverse park and hold handrails on stairs (warning then sack apparently).

@mumofmany81

I was told we are allowed to use reverse gear , that this is a reverse parking car park, that all cars have to be on the front row of the double spaces facing outward. So no,
I couldn’t have faces the other way in the space I was in as no one should be in that row at all. But I can reverse into a fence space despite being told that we are not allowed to use reverse gear.

So yes I was very confused and came on here to ask for ideas. Some lovely posters have explains nicely as to why health and safety ask for people to be able to drive straight out of a parking space. But as there is no signage etc I was unaware of the rule
and the explanation I asked for made no sense whatsoever. How do I reverse into a
Fence space when I’m not allowed to use reverse gear at all? How come even my line manager doesn’t know this rule and parks all over the place?!