Nights out are paid as a tax free allowance when you are away from base. The nature of the job means that even as a tamper, you will be in the yard on occasion. You then have the option of going home or not. The boss does not have to (and nor should he) pay you a night out tax free allowance.
I have NEVER in 30 years heard of being paid night out allowance when not on a night out as a condition of work. As an aside, what would this driver expect if he needed to be home during the week. Would he be happy to be told “sorry, but you are employed to be away every night, every week”? Somehow I doubt it…
If he is sleeping in the truck to get out early for your firm pay him if you value his graft.What annoys me is penny pinching firms like this,Espect you in on a sunday night to sleep in a truck for an early am monday start but will not pay the night out because its in your yard .
Pay him .
Then you just have to say to him straight, but nicely, that you can’t afford to pay night out if it isn’t a night out. If you believe the nights out will increase, then mention that. If he’s unhappy still, then maybe it’s best he goes as an unhappy driver does you no favours.
See beetle has posted at the same time. Hubman says he pays more on the hourly rate than other s in the area and pays even if there is no work, which sound fair enough. I can’t recollect him saying the driver had to come in and stay with the truck because of early starts. If that is the case, then there’s an argument for him receiving further remuneration, though not tax free night out money; however if the driver is staying in the yard because it suits him, then no, go home.
Beetlejuice:
If he is sleeping in the truck to get out early for your firm pay him if you value his graft.What annoys me is penny pinching firms like this,Espect you in on a sunday night to sleep in a truck for an early am monday start but will not pay the night out because its in your yard .
Pay him .
mean while back in the real world 
No one makes you me or him come in on a sunday night for an early getaway Monday morning , it’s called being an adult and making your own decisions not penny pinching
p/s if he’s being paid he’s on the clock FFs
My current and former employer both pay night out money if you’re sleeping in the cab regardless of whether your in the yard or 500 miles away. I though that was the norm but obviously not going by the replies here.
hubman:
It was made clear that he would be paid £££ plus nights out, I never stated that nights out are guaranteed as this is not the case.
He’s not a tramper then. He’s a day man with nights out when required.
blue estate:
Beetlejuice:
If he is sleeping in the truck to get out early for your firm pay him if you value his graft.What annoys me is penny pinching firms like this,Espect you in on a sunday night to sleep in a truck for an early am monday start but will not pay the night out because its in your yard .
Pay him .mean while back in the real world
p/s if he’s being paid he’s on the clock FFs
Ok knowall 
Just giving my opinion ok with you yeah …
harrawaffa:
My current and former employer both pay night out money if you’re sleeping in the cab regardless of whether your in the yard or 500 miles away. I though that was the norm but obviously not going by the replies here.
Are you getting it all tax free ? if so they’re breaking the law and HMRC could wallop you with a tax bill for nights stayed in yard
blue estate:
harrawaffa:
My current and former employer both pay night out money if you’re sleeping in the cab regardless of whether your in the yard or 500 miles away. I though that was the norm but obviously not going by the replies here.Are you getting it all tax free ? if so they’re breaking the law and HMRC could wallop you with a tax bill for nights stayed in yard
I no longer do nights out but yes at previous employer it was tax free and I know it’s the same at my current employer. Aye best of luck to them proving where I slept .
hubman:
kcrussell25:
hubman:
He is employed as a tramper. However we have other drivers that understand this policy and its in their employment contract( which he is getting tomorrow as he has only.been with us from 15rh Jan ).
We pay him for when he went home when there was no work and he has days when he just takes the truck for a PMI and does not delivery or collections.
He is a good worker and i dont want to lose him but we only have 2 trucks and cant afford to pay nights out when he is in the yard.Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
I understand you’re a small company but I really think you should have been quicker with the contract which may have helped avoid this. Also as Albion said, was it made clear nights out are not guaranteed?
If you are a small company has he taken a lower paid job compared to big companies because he doesn’t want to “be a number”? Whilst it shouldn’t be, has he then expected night out money to be part of his wages? maybe he has and then losing a couple of nights out a week, plus costs of traveling if he is a way from home soon adds up, if he is on “lower” pay. That could then be a “game changer”
The contract must be given to the employee within 2 months of start of employment, it was later than usual as our lawyer needed to update it with the pension option and legal updates.
We pay slightly more than other people in our sector and area, like EFS etc. It was made clear that he would be paid £££ plus nights out, I never stated that nights out are guaranteed as this is not the case.
Well done for paying more.
I never said you had broken rules for taking so long, but that if you had of been quicker it would have brought this issue up sooner. I think Albion says it all and you use it as a learning curve to make sure you cover it off in interviews in the future
harrawaffa:
My current and former employer both pay night out money if you’re sleeping in the cab regardless of whether your in the yard or 500 miles away. I though that was the norm but obviously not going by the replies here.
None of mine sleep in the cab unless they are away from base. As I say, they all live within a ten mile radius, so there’s no incentive to stay in the cab.
albion:
harrawaffa:
My current and former employer both pay night out money if you’re sleeping in the cab regardless of whether your in the yard or 500 miles away. I though that was the norm but obviously not going by the replies here.None of mine sleep in the cab unless they are away from base. As I say, they all live within a ten mile radius, so there’s no incentive to stay in the cab.
When I was tramping it was a 90 mile trip each way to home so not feasible to be running home.
harrawaffa:
albion:
harrawaffa:
My current and former employer both pay night out money if you’re sleeping in the cab regardless of whether your in the yard or 500 miles away. I though that was the norm but obviously not going by the replies here.None of mine sleep in the cab unless they are away from base. As I say, they all live within a ten mile radius, so there’s no incentive to stay in the cab.
When I was tramping it was a 90 mile trip each way to home so not feasible to be running home.
Well, when I say they live local, one lives 180 Mile’s away and another 220, but we have a flat, so they stay there. Long story, never meant to happen that way, but good lads so we go with the flow!
albion:
harrawaffa:
albion:
harrawaffa:
My current and former employer both pay night out money if you’re sleeping in the cab regardless of whether your in the yard or 500 miles away. I though that was the norm but obviously not going by the replies here.None of mine sleep in the cab unless they are away from base. As I say, they all live within a ten mile radius, so there’s no incentive to stay in the cab.
When I was tramping it was a 90 mile trip each way to home so not feasible to be running home.
Well, when I say they live local, one lives 180 Mike’s away and another 220, but we have a flat, so they stay there. Long story, never meant to happen that way, but good lads so we go with the flow!
Sounds like you run a very good firm Albion 
I’m not going to disagree beetle 
albion:
I’m not going to disagree beetle
I think after the convo’s on here. I feel that i am being reasonable and as work is picking up now i hope the more nights out coming up will settle him.
He will be getting his employment contract in which its states this issue. As to his demand, i will give this some further thought.
If he dont agree to the clause in the contract about nights out then he has the option of being a day driver or moving on.
I have already made the decision that i wont being taking trampers on any more due to parking issues and vehicle/driver security.
Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
My flabber is ghasted that this geezer expects night out pay because A he has no home life for whatever reason or B for whatever reason he doesn’t want the commute, i agree with the Maoster i’d shift him on because IMHO he’s got trouble written through him like a stick of rock.
Some of the car transporter pays schemes used to have ‘bonus nights out’, or beanos as we used to call them, these can either be mileage (eg 448kms) or 8 hours driving time, if you got the lorry back after completing either of those (one outfit was mileage the other hours driven), then you would get paid a bonus equivalent to £5 short of night out pay but all taxed.
This was part of the pay agreement, and encouraged hard graft, but if you did offer something like this you’d have to short something else i imagine, not saying these are perfect solutions but they did work (albeit you’d make sure not to get back on 7hrs 45m or 444kms, so downsides for you 
) , might be food for alternative thoughts.
I think Maritime pay a lower NIGHT IN YARD payment if you overnight in your own yard. It’s less than the normal night out rate but makes it attractive for people who commute, especially if you live further away.
As far as I know it’s tax free aswell but don’t count my word on this.
Some people stay rather in the yard (even if they’re local), others go home.
May be the OP could install a payment like this, but I totally understand that if the OP pays already a higher rate per hour, more payments make it harder for him to compete.
Both employers and Drivers in the haulage industry need to stop considering the Tax free allowance we call night out money as part of their wages.
It is not some extra pay for merely being away from home or to make up wages, it’s there to cover expenses when away from base.
From the HMRC.
Overnight accommodation
As a general guideline, the employer must have evidence available to show that the employee
• spent the night away from home and any permanent workplace, and
• the amount paid was reasonable reimbursement of the costs of accommodation and subsistence resulting from the business journey.
Sleeper cabs
Drivers now regularly use sleeper cabs in preference to alternative accommodation when away from home. However, they still receive a general overnight subsistence payment. This payment is intended to cover the cost of
• an evening meal and breakfast
• washing facilities
• upkeep of bedding in the cab.
Therefore I don’t see how your driver could reasonably ask for night out money for staying in your yard, unless you have an agreement for this and then any payments are part of their wages and therefore taxable.
Of course if your driver has the upper hand because you don’t want them to leave, it might mean renegotiating your pay and conditions to keep them, that’s just market forces in play.