Employees who drive personal car for company

turbo · May 2004

We have a number of employees who use their own cars to run errands for the company such as to go to the post office, Office Max, Sam's, the airport...etc.

We are now adding them to our Random Drug Testing List to be included in the program. They are not insured by the company as drivers but we carry an non-owned - hired insurance driving policy and are now requiring anyone in an accident on company time/busines in their own car to go for immediate drug testing - just if they were driving a company car - to protect themselves and the company.

Here is my question...running errands in persoanl cars is not currently a part of any position description - so we are going to add it to about 12 position descriptions

What if someone decides they don't want to be 'responsible' for this and refuses to use their own car now.

Can an administrative employee who otherwise is not hired as a driver refuse to drive for company business?

What if they do refuse? How do I handle this?

Before they may not have liked it - but did it because they were asked to do as a favor..now that is going to be formalized I see objections coming....

amwkim · May 2004

Do you reimburse these employees for mileage or give them some sort of car allowance?

turbo · May 2004

Employees can be reimburese for the mileage - but most of the emloyees do not turn in mileage - unless a single trip is significant.

One other issue - is that the employee if driving for business - their own insurance may not cover because they don't carry that type of insurance - they cover for personal use that includes driving to and from work not for work....that is an issue I have because my personal insurance company asks that specific question and I have always said no I am not a driver for my company ..once on paper in a position description I become a driver and will have to pay a higher premium or risk having an accident not be covered by my insurance and..the company's insurance does not cover me either ...it covers themselves for liability.

Cinderella · May 2004

I'm just gonna be blunt here...who cares if they don't want the responsibility? Business needs change and employees need to be flexible and adaptable team players. I know our job descriptions here say that they are "not inclusive of all duties" and all that blah blah blah about reasonable work requests. So, even if someone is asked to do something that is "not in their job description" but is reasonable (running an errand with their own car AND getting paid for mileage is certainly reasonable for most positions here at least) then they need to do it or it's insubordination. If they refuse, go the disciplinary route like you would for any other insubordination.

hhaynal · May 2004

I would not be so quick with the disciplinary route. The affected employee may have valid reasons for not wanting to drive their personal vehicle for company business. We recently addressed this issue (facility mgr wanted to make it a job requirement that employees must use personal vehicles) in which our company has small fleet of vehicles some of which are used by maintenance department to drive throughout facility from bldg to bldg to perform work orders. When one or another of the vehicles are out for service, one of the maintenance workers uses his own truck while another crew member flat out refused on the basis that the short stop-and-starts did more damage to the vehicle overall and that the minimal reimbursement fee was not sufficient to offset the damage. We also discussed liability and other issues where employees using their own vehicle while on company business were not covered under company fleet insurance.

Ultimately, we decided that employees would not be required to use their personal vehicles for company business, but that should they choose to do so, the company would reimburse for mileage. It was also stated that employees refusing to use their personal vehicles would not be subject to comment in their performance reviews.

deniseE · May 2004

We also discourage ee's from using their own cars on company business....one of the reasons is image...we have marketing reps that meet with banks and other higher profile clients...we do not want to always be associated with what the ee chooses to drive on his/her personal time.

The safety of the car is also an issue...if the ee is on company business and is in a car accident, it's workman's comp...our agency cars are usually newer than those of our ee's with more safety features...so it reduces the chance of serious injury in a minor crash.

These are not the things that ee's will be concerned about...but they are the things that we as HR need to keep in mind.

szemcumo · May 2004

My question is not in regard to the driving of your car/our car but your statement that you would now be adding them to your "random drug testing". If you have random testing, EVERYONE should be on the list or it is selective and not random at all. Does anyone else see this this way?

Crout · May 2004

No, not necessarily. It can depend entirely on your job responsibilities. A secretary is not the same as a person who drives a forklift.

turbo · May 2004

Our random Drug Testing and New Hire Drug Testing Program applies only to New Hires and Employees who are on the Saftey Critical List - that until now did not include employees who drive their own vehicle to run errands for the company.

Another issue I am running into...does an employee have to show proof of insurance to run errands? who is going to keep up with that? in Texas you must have liability insurance to drive.....will a person's own policy cover accidents on company time and business? I can't get a straight answer from a auto insurance company....no one will committ - they say it depends...and even have said that once it appears in writing such as a job description - then the employee should carry an additional more costly policy on their car!!!

Well- to be on the drug testing list..it has to be in the position description in writing..

Should we assume a don't ask don't tell poliy on whether the employees have consulted their own insurance company about additional more costly coverage?

I am not going to consult...and I drive for occasional errands.......

Don D · May 2004

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-06-04 AT 10:40AM (CST)[/font][br][br]I'm in agreement with hhaynal and denise. Those of you who assume there is absolutely no personal liability are in for a rude awakening if you every have an accident while on duty.

I had a serious wreck four years ago going from one company location to another in my personal vehicle. Since I was 'on duty' my clinic visit was covered by workers' comp. My damage to both cars was covered by my personal insurance which escalated my premiums drastically for the entire next three years. Had I killed or maimed the woman whose car I hit, my insurance would have exhausted its limits, then my homeowner's insurance would have been next in line. Third would have been the company's insurance. I found all this out the hard way after consultation and arguments with all involved insurance companies.

So it does go a bit deeper than John refusing to run down to the Post Office in his personal pickup. Check with your personal insurance carrier. Don't rely on second hand advice, even mine.

turbo · May 2004

thanks for the input. I am glad you are well from the incident.

So your carrier had no issue with you using your car to drive for company business? it covered your travel? I have surveyed 2 carriers and not heard from another...

I hav received opposing answers...no the employee needs to carry a bigger policy that include company driving and the other carrier said if only a few times a month...no big deal....

but if the driving responsibility is put in the job description - I was told by one carrier - then the employee should seek commerical - type driving insurance even though they are not a commerical driver????

Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?

should we just let these employees continue to run these errands (12 people) and add them to the saftey critical list to be drug tested and not add the driving to their position descrtiptions???

Obviously the policy is in practice now as far as the driving is concerned - but the policy is not in writing or in responsibility or definition.....

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Employees who drive personal car for company

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