Company vehicle

[fattony]

Hi

I wanted to check if the general consensus was Im being unfair or not.

We have an employee who is leaving, when he started he was picked up from his home address and taken to the office to collect company vehicle.

Is it unreasonable to ask him to return the van to the office once he has finished his final job and his final commute home is down to him?

Thanks

 

[Mitch3473]

It depends what your meaning of unreasonable is. If the guy is an utter %&£$ then let him walk, if he's a reasonable bloke with no means to get back home and no axe to grind I'd do the decent thing. You'll feel better for it.

 

[fattony]

I see it as a shared responsibility, I did one way and he should do the other, but that's my view and wondered if I was being unfair

 

[Mitch3473]

Any reason why the guy's leaving..........

 

[fattony]

Not entirely sure to be honest was told its to work closer to home, it's a field based job office is only 30 mins from his house

 

[David Griffiths]

I think that if you picked him up in the beginning it is quite reasonable for him to expect you to run him home at the end of the engagement. I've not been in your position but I'm pretty sure that's what I'd do, although I get the impression that you don't want to. Would you give him advance notice that he's got to find his own way home, or just spring it on him when he brings the vehicle in?

 

[fattony]

So in future you think the employee should make their own way to collect the vehicle?

I wouldn't spring it on them no

 

[David Griffiths]

So in future you think the employee should make their own way to collect the vehicle?

I didn't say that.

 

[fattony]

I know you didn't that's why there was a ?

Still a valid question

 

[iamhill]

Public transport available? Cab? who cares ; let him know that the company vehicle is required to be left at the work premises after he finishes his last shift and he should understand this if he is of sound mind. If he is physically disabled(if he is then please do arrange that someone drop him off)

This is a no-brainer!

 

[David Griffiths]

I know you didn't that's why there was a ?

Still a valid question

I don't have an opinion on that. I can't see anything wrong with either arrangement.

If you expect your next employee to travel to the workplace on day 1, then they'd probably expect to make their own way home on the last day.

 

[bovine]

In my view the vehicle has to be returned to the office so you can check it. I would ask if someone is able to pick him up but if it causes issues, get someone to drop him off.
Its not really something to worry about too much. And whenever possible, its always good to leave things on a positive note, you never know when or in what capacity you may deal with this person again.

 

[Ian J]

Public transport available? Cab? who cares ; let him know that the company vehicle is required to be left at the work premises after he finishes his last shift and he should understand this if he is of sound mind. If he is physically disabled(if he is then please do arrange that someone drop him off)

This is a no-brainer!

I'm glad that I don't work for you

 

[iamhill]

I'm glad that I don't work for you

As someone I respect on this forum, what do you suggest in such cases?

 

[Ian J]

As someone I respect on this forum, what do you suggest in such cases?

Personally I think that the whole thing is rather petty and if it were me I would prefer to be seen as a decent employer who looks after his staff, even on the day they leave my employ.

I'm afraid that it was your comment "who cares" that I took umbrage over

 

[myfairworld]

Just as a one-off thing I think you would be well advised to end this relationship looking like a good employer and ensuring your employee (to that point) gets home in as easy a way as possible.

My reasons are:

the issue is so trivial that it is just not worth the effort of doing anything other than helping your employee get home;

it is always a good idea to have a reputation as a 'good' employer and not worth losing this over something trivial;

ex-employees do talk and you don't want them to say verbally or on social media that you were a nit-picking employer;

is it actually worth the stress on you to carry through not providing the employee with transport home however much it might be right on the basis of a 'principle'? You may feel you are doing what is right but actually you are simply putting unnecessary stress on yourself. The employee is leaving. Now is the time to thank them for their work for your company, give them a small token of your appreciation and wish them well for the future and provide that transport home simply as a goodwill gesture?

 

[paulears]

I can't actually believe you're asking us what we think? It's his last day, he's probably made friends in the workplace, maybe they've bought him a present, and card to say goodbye. Maybe they're all going out for a farewell meal, or having a party? If you have fell out with him, then it's different. If he's been with you a while, and is just making a career move, I don't understand why you don't take him home, or arrange somebody else to do it - or at least ask? He may have made arrangements already. If it was me, I suspect I'd not be able to remember how he got to work on his first day, it would have been unimportant. I'm friends with probably every person who has worked for me still, bar maybe a couple, who I just didn't get along with. Me personally, if they'd been a dependable person, I'd say thanks for working for me, and offer them a lift myself. Is there something you're not telling us? Sounds like it.

 

[swankypants69]

If there is no reason to end on bad terms then don't make an effort to

I don't think they would be expecting a lift home (I wouldn't be)

If on the other hand they've been a pain in the wotsits from day one, no one else likes them, they haven't been a generally good employee/nice person, let em make their own way home

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Hire a roller to take him home in style...