As far as I can tell this was a way for them to pay you a bit more money without all the additional costs to them that a higher salary would bring (pension contributions and bonus for example).

This was openly discussed and three years ago, my allowance went from X to Y on the basis that its “less costly” for the company to give me a pay rise that way. I ried to negotiate it as salary to no avail.

Also to help the context, we recieved a blanket email last week dictating that we hadn’t got to a level where annual bonus would not be paid (20% of my package) and pay rises in any form will not be occurring this year.

Put it all together and you can see why I am annoyed…. I’ve recieved 80% of my effectoive salry this year, my wife isn’t working and it is about to be reduced by another 16% or so. Like others I have a mortgage and two kids to pay for…. 🙁

keep bmw and get one of these to meet the car rules?
£121/month

http://www.lingscars.com/Volkswagen/Up/1805753-1.0_i_%2859bhp%29_Take_Hatchback_3dr_999cc-personal.html#models

as long as you use the vw when on compnay business you can drive the bmw the rest of the time..

Holy ball buckets.> That website should come with a health warning.

+1 ON THAT!

Totally understand OP. Interesting times we’re in – when we start to see the true colours of our employers. The company I work for rejoice and announce ever more growth and profit each quarter, yet the majority of the company receive well below inflation pay rises (if at all) and no bonuses.

I wonder how long folk will put up with it. Me, not long!

…I’m fuming at the threat though.

Look at it from the other side, I would be fuming if I had been paying someone a car allowance, on top of their salary, to buy a car with, for a good few years, and they had taken it, but hadn’t used it to buy a car.

Ah right.

So the company’s been using it as a loophole. I wonder if they’ve been told off for it?

This was openly discussed and three years ago, my allowance went from X to Y on the basis that its “less costly” for the company to give me a pay rise that way. I ried to negotiate it as salary to no avail.

When you say ‘openly discussed’, I take you mean only spoken about – no one was so stupid as to put such an obvious tax scam in an email in such a way that could imply that the money was actually in effect part of your salary?

http://www.lingscars.com/Lada/Riva-leasing/cheap-contract-hire.html#models

ling to the rescue.

a brand new lada riva for 180 quid a month for 3 years.

it is doubtful the lada would even see the term of the lease ! but it would be worth it to see the bosses face i think. “but it meets the criteria”

@nealglover Car allowance is taxed in the same way as salary. I’d be pissed off with my employer telling me (in detail) how he wants me to spend my money!

Car allowance should be scrapped. It came in when the taxman caught up with company cars as a perk. It’s now just a mess.

When I had a company car (not car allowance so different) the bastards told me it had to be at my place of work in case someone else needed to use it (we always had several company cars on site), all because I was only using it when I went to site otherwise I cycled. I tried leaving it at work some days so I could still cycle but they said the car park was not suitable for over night! I ended up giving it back and took the cash replacement when the lease expired.

nealglover – Member

…I’m fuming at the threat though.

Look at it from the other side, I would be fuming if I had been paying someone a car allowance, on top of their salary, to buy a car with, for a good few years, and they had taken it, but hadn’t used it to buy a car.

Hold on a mo – I bought a car – I explained my situation above.

Ah right.

So the company’s been using it as a loophole. I wonder if they’ve been told off for it?

No – it was a direct conversation with my former boss, as he held the purse strings and was controlling the dept budget. He’s left the company now, so its too late to grass him up. I don’t see that as illegal anyway – thats just him negotiating with an employee to give the employee and incentive and keep expensiture as low as possible and as metioned above its taxed as per PAYE so its not a scam.

If cash alternative users are doing a lot of business miles then HR may be making this move to mitagate a perceived H&S risk. Afterall, if you are on company business the company have a duty of care towards you even if you are in your own car, so its in their interests that you are not in a total shed

Also to help the context, we recieved a blanket email last week dictating that we hadn’t got to a level where annual bonus would not be paid (20% of my package) and pay rises in any form will not be occurring this year.

The double negative is confusing! Are you saying you will be getting a bonus or not?
You should never bank on a bonus, as its just that. Nor should you expect a pay rise, especially as we are in a bit of a recession!

bigyinn – no bonus this year.

I don’t bank on it I work to my base salary always, I’m just reflecting upon how I’m feeling the pinch at the moment. It would have been nice to have had it.

Tell them to **** it and go get a new job.

go get a new job

and then

Tell them to **** it.

Murray – Member
I’d be pissed off with my employer telling me (in detail) how he wants me to spend my money!

They pay you a sum of money and stipulate it’s to be spent on a car. Easy.

C-A-R – A-L-L-O-W-A-N-C-E

@nealglover Car allowance is taxed in the same way as salary. I’d be pissed off with my employer telling me (in detail) how he wants me to spend my money!

Your salary is your salary. Spend it how you like.

Your car allowance is an allowance, on top of your salary, for you to buy a car.

It’s not unreasonable that an employer puts certain conditions in place, (such as spending the allowance on a car, the car being a certain age etc) they are paying for it after all.

Hope that helps.

Thats ^^ a fair point. The issue being that they’ve changed the implied rules to some less favorable actual rules.

C’est la vie, life is unfair etc *shrugs*…

My car [has] a decent image.

Only if you’re having a mid-life crisis…

🙂

On the plus side you get to get a new car.

Indeedy – watch out for a “What car for…” thread…

You probably need a contract lawyer but they can change your terms and conditions of employment if they want is my understanding

If the policy which details the stipulations for the payment isn’t explicitly part of your contract of employment…then they can pretty much change it at will

argh!

talk to an employment lawyer. you can also get free legal advice thru a union if you’re a member. and i vaguely seem to remember that some insurance policies come with an hour’s free legal advice but don’t quote me on that.

The last company I worked for had no restrictions on what car you ran, and some people didn’t even have a car as the allowance was a grade thing. I ran a m/c and an old 535i, my Boss had a 2-seater and previous Boss a V8 Range Rover. Others ran 911 and a variety of fast cars and m/c’s.

What you could do though is buy a new basic lease car for your OH to do no miles in a have it registered for yourself. And register your car to her. And continue to use your car.

But, how will they check what you own, if there a stipulation that its checked, submit the reg. etc. What about your colleagues? I’d also speak with HR and say that 3 months isn’t long enough for such a expensive purchase, and you ought to be able to run a current car until changed.

You could also stop taking the allowance and say you haven’t a car, and then train/taxi/hire car everywhere?

Ohh the drama….

My girlfriends employer insists she has a car for work purposes (as she is a community nurse) and pay her an-ever-so-generous $50 per month [before tax!] car allowance… 🙁

Funniest thread i’ve read in ages on here.

OP, you’re taking the pi55… you have been for years.

As stated, it’s not your salary, it’s a car allowance…. use it accordingly.