is this indirect discrimination

[taken4granted]

Hi there i started my job in september last yr as a sales rep - the last incumbent (a man) retired and worked full time and assured me that I would do less than 10k business miles a yr so I opted for the mileage allowance and using my own car - thing is Ive already done over 8500 business miles despite Im only school hrs term time only and once I hit 10k business miles my mileage rate drops form 40p to 25 p per mile - 2 things I dont want to put excessive amounts of mileage on my own vehicle and 2 the 25 p a mile doesnt cover he cost of diesel let alone servicing costs - Ive asked my company for a company car and they ahve said they re looking into the viability of it ( over amonth ago now) thing is the other full time reps have a co car no probs - yes they might do more miles than me however Im on target to do approx 18k+ business miles a yr which had I known n stating I would have taken the co car option - what rights do I have? I also dont want to rock the boat too much though this is a good job in terms of hours (school hrs ad term time only so I dont have to pay for childcare)and those jobs are like rocking horse poo to come by!

No I don't think it is as you opted out. What does your company policy say about opting back in?

Why would it be discriminatory? You decided yourself to opt out. Why is your mileage so much higher than the previous incumbent's mileage? Do you have a larger territory, are you spending more time on sales calls? Do your sales to date justify the additional mileage? If you are exceeding your targets it might provide a negotiating tool to go back to your manager to ask for a review of the mileage policy or a change to a company car. Am a bit shocked that 25p a mile doesn't cover your diesel costs however. What are you driving - a tank?!

The rates you are being paid for mileage are the maximum your employer is allowed to pay without you having to pay income tax - 40p per mile for the first 10k miles, 25p per mile thereafter. If 25p per mile doesn't cover the cost of diesel that suggests you are getting around 5 miles per litre, i.e. less than 23mpg.

I am bemused that you consider this in any way discriminatory. You had the option to have a company car and you chose not to do so. Don't forget that if you swap to a company car you will pay additional tax for the car and receive a lower mileage rate.

re people replying don't please be so naive as to think that milage payments are there to cover fuel - your vehicle's wear and tear costs at least as much as your fuel on top. Higher milage is good in one way - it typically means less short journeys which increase wear and tear on gears and clutch, bad in another, more wear means more particulate wear and higher oil demand and more accelerated engine decline. (latter can be reduced by more frequent servicing than recommended).

Heroine - Read the OP again, especially the bit that says 25p per mile doesn't cover the cost of diesel. That is why I converted 25p per mile to a (very rough) mpg figure. I know perfectly well that mileage isn't just to cover fuel. However, there is a maximum that can be paid without getting taxed and the OP's employer is paying that maximum.

Discrimination? Because you're part time and don't have a company car and full timers do? Well that depends of a few things. Firstly. whether you were offered a company car and declined which your OP suggests you may have done because you say you chose to use your own car. Secondly, even if you are the only member of staff in your role without a company car and you're the only part-time member of staff and you were not offered the option of a company car it may still not count as indirect sex discrimination because you have been offered what many would consider a reasonable alternative and it may not be cost-effective for the business to have you working part-time and give you a company car as well. If the choice is between giving you a company car and cutting back on other costs (like salary which is usually the biggest and means making staff redundant/not replacing staff that leave) then that may be a consequence that the business feels is unacceptable and can use to justify it's position at an Employment Tribunal.

Some other things to think about which might be more constructive than whether or not you're being treated less favourably than full time staff is:

1. When does the year run? If it's Jan-Dec then you need to start counting again from the beginning of the year or is it the tax year 6th April to 5th April?
2. Are you doing everything you can to minimise your milage?

If you were offered the choices when you took the job and made your decision based on the word of the previous person in the job who was leaving and he was wrong then I'm afraid that's just a bit of tough luck. You should have asked your line manager or the person offering you choices about your car options when you were hired.

I think if this is a problem for you speaking to your employer is the right thing to do but be prepared for the company car option not to be viable. They will have done all their budgeting for the year based on the decision you made when you were hired. There might be another option so do try to work with your employer to find a solution.

Heroine, I'm well aware of all the costs which the mileage allowance is supposed to cover. It is the OP who is saying that 25p per mile doesn't even cover her fuel, never mind the additional servicing, changes of tyre etc.

allowance @40p per mile for 10,000 miles = £4,000.

Plus another (estimated) 8,000 miles @ 25p = £2000.

Seriously, you can't do 18K miles for £6,000?

Buy a cheaper car.

If you get a co car you need to cover off what will happen in the time your not at work.

As your not working, you could be expected to give it back as you're not using it. This will still mean (presumably) the costs of running a second car for this period.

Otherwise you'll still get taxed as on the full 12 months. Also get them to explain the private fuel policy as that can easily be another £3500k in less tax allowance.

As the others have pointed out you will be taxed on the company car a 2006 1.8Litre D focus will add about £15 a week to your tax bill without private mileage.

Also if they are not covering private mileage on fuel they should no be operating one of two recording schemes either you put in the fuel, record your business mileage and they pay you 12p per mile or they put in the fuel you record all the mileage and pay them 12p per mile for private mileage.
I operate both systems in my business and have to say the people with company cars actually find they are a little worse off as they have no asset. The governement have designed both schemes to make small fuel efficient cars the most attractive. As a point of interest the very best for comfort whilst driving alot of miles with fuel efficiency seems to be a few years old 1.8L D Laguna.

What happened to the OP? Hate it when people post and run

I think she realised that actually she was being unreasonable and wasn't being discriminated against? Or wasn't being taken4granted as her name suggested?

I think you're right annh. I just like it when people say thank you and your advice was really helpful/insighful/an example of your obvious genius

So often the case when people don't like the advice they get. Usually when they come on all 'IT'S OUTRAGEOUS' and posters all go 'er, no actually it's fine'.

On the other hand, some posters just come back on and tell people giving advice they are talking bo%^s, as happened to me the other day. Which was most amusing

Yes I saw that flowery. I thought it was a bit of a cheek but had nothing to add so kept out. I did allow myself a small snurk though at the ridiculous poster's expense.