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Original poster

Claiming mileage whist on maternity leave, am i being unreasonable??

21 replies

Sophie2008 · 09/03/2009 21:25

I am currently on maternity leave, and my employer gave me one weeks notice to attend a consultation meeting on redundancy.
I have no childcare in place for obvious reasons, and i have only been living where i am for just over a month and i have no family near me.

As I was only given one weeks notice i could not arrange any childcare locally, so i decided to drop my daughter at my mums house which was 135 miles out of the way.

I put in the fuel claim at work but they are refusing to pay the whole journey as they are saying that it is unreasonable. But it was the only way i would have been able to attend the meeting, unless i took my 6 month old daughter with me.

Also as part of my job i'm entitled to a company car (which i do not have at the moment as on mat leave). My arguement is that if i still had the car then they would have paid for my mileage anyway for the whole journey.

So am i being unreasonable in claiming for the whole journey?

OP posts:
Original poster
Sophie2008 · 09/03/2009 21:40

I forgot to mention that i have two tribunal cases against them and a pending grievance.

So could be why they are being difficult!

OP posts:
RibenaBerry · 09/03/2009 22:57

To be honest, although I would accept a mileage claim, 135 miles of mileage is a bit much. I would at least have called them to explain the situation and get the ok in advance before incurring it. Sorry, probably not what you wanted to hear.

You say that you have a grievance and a claim against them. Probably relations are already strained, so think carefully about whether this is what you would have done 'normally'. Did you really think that this was the best way to handle the situation and your options? (~Sorry, that sounds harsher than I meant it to reading back, but hopefully you know what I mean).

AxisofEvil · 09/03/2009 23:07

I'll also be honest but you may not like it...

Obviously I don't know the background but if you put in an expenses claim for 270miles (2x135) in your current situation with the tribunal claims etc and I was asked to approve it then I might think you were trying to be antagonistic. So you should bear in mind that (unintentionally) this might not paint you in the best light. To be honest I'd probably have taken the baby with me, unpalatable as it would have been. Sorry.

EyeballsintheSky · 09/03/2009 23:09

Are they allowed to insist on you coming into work? There are voluntary keeping in touch days but I didn't think they were allowed to haul you in against your will. That's no help at all, of course, just musings...

hf128219 · 09/03/2009 23:12

It could be the case that 'home to duty travel' expenses are always the responsibility of the job holder.

Do they normally pay your travelling expenses to get to work?

CompareTheMeerkat · 09/03/2009 23:13

I wouldn't have put in a claim for the mileage I don't think.

Northernlurker · 09/03/2009 23:19

Yes you are being unreasonable.

nuttygirl · 09/03/2009 23:24

Are you on additional maternity leave? If you're on ordinary maternity leave then you're entitled to your company car. www.workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/family_zone/fs_pr10_rights_during_maternity_leave.asp

flowerybeanbag · 10/03/2009 09:48

What Ribena said.

HappyMummyOfOne · 10/03/2009 10:22

I think YABU too and wouldnt even have thought to have claimed mileage due to my childcare constraints. Your DH could have covered or you could have simply explained you had no childcare and excused yourself or possible re-arranged. Worst case was to explain you would have had to bring the baby with you and times it around nap time.

Original poster
Sophie2008 · 10/03/2009 14:10

Thank you all for your comments.

My complete round trip for that meeting was 452 miles, of which they have agreed to pay for 162 miles. So i'll think i'll accept that.

It was a one off situation and i tried to explain that, but fell on deaf ears.

Today they have said that there is yet another meeting about the redundancy next week. No idea what i'm going to do as can't afford the drive to my mums 135 miles away.

Do child carers take babies at 6am in the morning? as that is the time i need to leave by to get to the meeting.

Or should i say that i may need to bring my daughter?

OP posts:
HappyMummyOfOne · 10/03/2009 15:38

Is is a meeting purely re redundancy for you or a general one for the whole company/those at risk? Do you need to attend or would copies of the minutes suffice?

Can your OH not help for that day? You say it was a one off situation before re the travel so assume you do have other options usually.

Childminders do start early but you may not find one in time for next week? What childcare do you have in place for after your maternity - can you not use that option for the day?

MrsJoeMcIntyre · 10/03/2009 15:47

HappyMummyOfOne - do you have no childcare options at all? If it is just a question of timing, ask them to change the time of your meeting to a more convenient one, or ask them to meet you at a venue that is closer to your home than their offices.

I would consider both of those requests to be reasonable under the circumstances.

LIZS · 10/03/2009 15:51

If you have recently moved that far away from work perhaps you have already made up your mind not to return ? Sorry but I'm with Ribena, if it was an issue you could have asked for agreement beforehand. As to the company car, do you get cash in lieu while on ml?

For next week could you call a local sitter or cm to look after your dd while you are at the meeting - maybe a MNetter could recommend someone if it is near them - or ask for the meeting to be at a time which you could reasonably drop your dd off with someone and travel for.

Original poster
Sophie2008 · 10/03/2009 16:24

The meeting was for a group consultation, which i felt was important enought for me to attend.

I am new to this site HappyMummyOfOne, what does OH stand for?

I have not yet arranged childcare for after mat leave as do not go back until mid July, but i really need to start properly looking.

I don't know anyone well enough where i live now. We moved due to my husband being in the RAF, and my job involves a fair bit of travel so they picked an office in the middle of the UK so all us remote people don't have to trek massive distances. Which is ok when you haven't got a small child.

I don't get anything for the car whilst i am on Add'l mat leave. But if i had the car and was on ordinary leave then they would have paid the mileage anyway via my fuel card, which is why i thought they would not have a problem with it.

Looking back i should have asked them before hand and not just assumed. Lesson Learnt. After next weeks meeting they can come to me!

OP posts:
RibenaBerry · 10/03/2009 16:29

Sophie,

I would strongly suggest that you call your employer, explain your childcare issues and discuss the options. It may be, for example, that you could dial in and attend the meeting by phone. Another option would be for HR to have a separate call with you afterwards, or even for someone to come out to your home and give you the information everyone else gets in the meeting. There are any number of other options too - one of which might be taking your daughter along.

HR do understand that people on maternity leave often don't have easily available childcare, so I would really urge you to make this a two-way dialogue with your employer.

Sorry if this is out of line, but I wonder whether the underlying dispute with your employer (and obviously that may well be totally justified - I am not commenting on that at all) is making you approach this is a 'me versus them' issue, when really it should be a collaboration. If you approach this as something that you and HR need to resolve together, everyone is likely to have a better result (obviously some companies are just totally unreasonable, but from the offer of 162 miles mileage, HR at least don't sound it).

wobbegong · 10/03/2009 17:29

Ribenaberry offers good advice.

Do you absolutely have to attend the meeting in person?

Also, just trying to think creatively with a can-do attitude rather than a confrontational one. How long is the meeting? I have been known to sweet-talk a secretary into kindly taking DD to a cafe for an hour just for one meeting.

Original poster
Sophie2008 · 10/03/2009 17:41

RibenaBerry you are not out of line, i just needed someone to tell me straight, maybe i did go at this as them v me, especially after the 12 months i've just had with them. You are both offering sound advice and i'll definately speak to work and explain.

I tend to get carried away once i've dug my heels in!

OP posts:
flowerybeanbag · 10/03/2009 18:19

Agree with everything Ribena has said. I would like to add that, although I obviously know nothing of your tribunal claims/grievances, these are usually to a large extent about demonstrating the unreasonable behaviour of your employer. The best way to emphasise this is to behave extremely reasonably yourself throughout the whole process. You being v v v reasonable all the time makes any unreasonable behaviour on their part look worse.

Similarly, if you behave otherwise you risk it all looking like a mudslinging match of 'he said she said', which won't help you.

RibenaBerry · 10/03/2009 19:57

Hope it goes well, and I would second what Flowery says about demonstrating that you are being totally reasonable actually being helpful if you are going through a claim with them.

I know it is really hard when you are fed up and frustrated with your employer to sometimes see the wood for the trees. If you can pick the things you can work with them on, it will at least save your engergy for the things you can't.

Original poster
Sophie2008 · 11/03/2009 07:56

Thank you.

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