RELOCATION - 22.01.2009

Employee moves away - what can you do?

Cost of living

One of our subscribers is situated in a small town and tends to employ those who live fairly locally. An employee has recently announced that due to the high cost of local housing they’re moving to a cheaper area, which is over 65 miles away. The employee’s new route to work is often subject to severe traffic problems and our subscriber is concerned about the impact this will have on future time-keeping. Do they have to accept the situation or is there anything they can do?

Any contractual provisions?

First, check if the employment contract contains a requirement to live within a set distance of the workplace. This is most likely if the job requires the employee to be “on-call” regularly or to be able to attend the premises if requested by one of the emergency services, e.g. if they are a key holder. If there’s a contractual provision requiring staff to live within a reasonable travelling distance, then you can rely on the case of Farr v Hoveringham Gravels 1972.Here, a tribunal found that an employer can safely dismiss an employee if their relocation means that the distance to be travelled won’t allow them to properly meet the demands of the job.

Let’s talk about it

If there’s no contractual provision requiring an employee to live close to work, all you can do initially is express your concern about the move and what it could mean for the business. Concerns are likely to fall into two categories: (1) a decline in productivity or performance; or (2) habitually poor time-keeping.

Consider some flexibility

But if this is a valuable employee, it may be worth looking at changing their working hours to avoid heavy traffic or letting them do some work from home if their role allows for it.

Dealing with the problem. If neither of these options is viable, then monitor the situation closely. In the event that there’s a decline in their time-keeping be prepared to go down the disciplinary route.

Tip. Whilst a few hiccups to begin with can be expected, keep an eye on this employee’s time-keeping over the first couple of months. Hold detailed records of any instances where lost time isn’t made up, or where poor time-keeping is causing other problems, e.g. being late for meetings etc. Raise any problems or concerns promptly.

Reasonable requirement

If you don’t have one, introduce a time-keeping policy (see The next step) and tighten up on the amount of time you’re willing to allow for commuting. What’s reasonable will depend on your location.

Tip. Justify the policy on business-related grounds, e.g. where travelling delays could impact adversely on your ability to meet customer demand, where staff lateness or shortage would affect your levels of customer service provision, or where there could be safety implications of your business being short-staffed.

For a free sample time-keeping policy, visit http://personnel.indicator.co.uk (PS 11.02.05).