Roymondo:
I think this case has more to do with the employer ignoring the correct procedures and simply moving straight to dismissal.
Agreed - If they had given him a written warning, and then fired him later for something, he wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on.
Of course, we only know what the paper chose to report - they frequently get it wrong.
tommy t:
So where has the drivers hours rules been broken, ? Most of us do 15hr days several times each week, where is his problem?and
Wardaddy:
Why did the driver concerned take a selfie in a hall of mirrors then let the newspaper use it for his mugshot?+1 it makes him look like a big soft Jessy aright
Whilst them sacking him if this was his first disciplinary , then they are wrong for doing that, but from what i can see he wasn’t asked to break any laws or driving regs ,
I agree they were wrong for sacking him,but from another point of view he is a big soft £30,000 jessy,fair play to him
Here’s a bit more to this story.
I can’t see how they’ve asked him to break any rules, they’ve sacked him without going down the proper route of warnings, verbal, written etc maybe that’s why they’ve been fined.
In my eyes 15hrs is too much if you’re returning to base. In my last job I used to do 15hr days regular. You’d finish work, half an hour home straight to bed, half an hour back to work in the morning 9hrs later. What kinda life is that?
double post.
tachograph:
Here’s a bit more to this story.
So he actually started work at 06:30 and not 05:45 that was stated in the link on the OP, is this a case of a ■■■■■■ off driver with attitude because his easy shift had changed to one that meant he had to travel a further 80 miles north before setting off back for home? who hasn’t been there more than once?
Is it possible to do that 320 mile round trip in less than 10 hrs driving?
And why would a professional driver even ask his employer this question? “He inquired with HR if there was any legal limit on driver’s hours but ultimately made the trip in fear that he would lose his job and the company money”
tachograph:
Here’s a bit more to this story.
Straight away there’s a discrepancy, he left his house at 0545 and started work at 0630 according to this report, so thats now a fourteen and quarter hour day unless as in the other report the time the bloke leaves his house (or alarm goes off) and maybe walks through his front door again is being counted?
Bet they’ll be a bit more picky about who they employ in future…the good thing here, and yes i think people like this do companies a bit of good in this respect is that it makes them appreciate more the decent people who work for them and will help out once in a while when the crap’s hit the fan, especially for a company that relies on customer service, which this company sounds like it is one such.
Wonder why he can’t get a job now, experienced lorry driver, university grad no less, 2 years still no job?
Fair play to the guy on winning the tribunal, sadly there are still unscrupulous companies about who don’t understand or care about driver hours. As long as the driver gets the job done, that’s all they care about!
Yellowbellyman:
Fair play to the guy on winning the tribunal, sadly there are still unscrupulous companies about who don’t understand or care about driver hours. As long as the driver gets the job done, that’s all they care about!
Nowhere in the article did it mention that the company concerned asked or ordered him to break the law. It did however state that he started work at 5.45am and didn’t get home until 8.45pm, note that HOME bit, maybe he lived an hour away from the yard? I don’t know, it’s just speculation on my part, but I’m thinking along the lines of him believing the adverts and starting a job with his rose tinted spectacles firmly in position. It’s transport ffs, like it or loathe it long hours and unforeseen circumstances are the norm, if you don’t like it nobody is holding a gun to your head, just walk away.
As others have said, the issue is the Co not following proper procedure when sacking him, not any hours offences. I do guarantee however that any future drivers there will be agency and not full time because of his actions.
I do note with interest that the guy now lives in Worcestershire and is struggling to find work. Well there’s a nice pink tipper Co in that area who will gently ease him back into work no doubt! 
Yellowbellyman:
Fair play to the guy on winning the tribunal, sadly there are still unscrupulous companies about who don’t understand or care about driver hours. As long as the driver gets the job done, that’s all they care about!
The case had nothing to do with drivers hours, it was a case of a driver which had no idea about hours regs concerned about how many hours he was spending behind the wheel and his health and safety.
Leaving home at 05:45 and getting back home at 20:45 doesn’t mean youve worked 15 hours, which is whats claimed.
Maybe I’ve missed it somewhere, but do we know that he was in fact driving a vehicle under EU hours regulations - or was it a smaller van (presumably with Domestic Hours limits applying)?
fair play to the lad .
its only going to be a matter of time before a driver has an accident 14 hours into a shift , and claims that the fault lies with the employer for planning such a long day .
and wins .
cause if his run sheet plans the day for much over 12/13 the employer are behaving with no due regard to their employees safety or others
the bit after 12/13 hours should be to allow for unforseen circumstances , not as a regular route plan .
boredwivdrivin:
fair play to the lad .its only going to be a matter of time before a driver has an accident 14 hours into a shift , and claims that the fault lies with the employer for planning such a long day .
and wins .
cause if his run sheet plans the day for much over 12/13 the employer are behaving with no due regard to their employees safety or others
the bit after 12/13 hours should be to allow for unforseen circumstances , not as a regular route plan .
Rubbish.
The drivers hours limits are there for the safety of drivers and other road users…therefore companies are perfectly entitled to plan a driver to any work that can be completed within those legal limits.
Juddian:
Seeing he’s been unable to find a job for 2 years since the sacking, despite moving to a different part of the country does, rightly or wrongly, give me misgivings about the claimant and his suitability for our industry.
Maybe the small mater at interview when his possible new employer asks about his last job and he says, " Well I ended up getting the sack from them for complaining about having to do a 15 hour shift so I basicly took them to the cleaners to the tune of 30 grand" may have something to do with him being unable to find a job 
DonutUK:
boredwivdrivin:
fair play to the lad .its only going to be a matter of time before a driver has an accident 14 hours into a shift , and claims that the fault lies with the employer for planning such a long day .
and wins .
cause if his run sheet plans the day for much over 12/13 the employer are behaving with no due regard to their employees safety or others
the bit after 12/13 hours should be to allow for unforseen circumstances , not as a regular route plan .
Rubbish.
The drivers hours limits are there for the safety of drivers and other road users…therefore companies are perfectly entitled to plan a driver to any work that can be completed within those legal limits.
I see what bwd means.
You can say what the hell you like bud 15 hrs is too long for anybody, ok we all do it (although in my case only to suit me) but a 13 hr working day is enough for anybody.
Where is the h&s when you can do a 15 hr shift and take 9 off …not 9 hrs sleep either, maybe about 6 by the time you shower eat unwind and all the rest of it. Then head off again driving 44 tons for another 10 hrs.
Just because it’s legal does not mean it is safe. *Now bring on the Bigbollock heroes. 
…‘Nowt wrong with 15hrs, I only need 5 hours kip in my lay by me, and I need to crack on’’
or the predictable and brainwashed…
‘‘That’s transport, if you don’t like 15hrs, you are in the wrong job’’
Heard it before guys save it.
Not really sure how I feel about this one, maybe because I don’t know enough of what went on before the driver was sacked.
Part of me thinks well done for standing up against the management, but another part thinks this was a moaning driver who seemed to want to cause trouble and the company decided to get shot of him.
By the sounds of it 15 hour days weren’t the norm, but there had been a [zb] up and so drivers were given more to do and it seems this driver didn’t think he could do the job or he actually run out of driving hours.
Maybe the [zb] up could have been handled better, possibly getting an outside haulier to take up the extra work it caused, but maybe it could have been covered by the company and most drivers treated it as a one off and got on with it.
It also seems that man management skills were non existent, but it could also be a TM so [zb] with one drivers constant complaining and seemingly inability to work unsupervised, he lost it with him.
As for doing 15 hour days, I find them useful now and then, but then I have a fair degree of control of the hours I do. Although I do think they shouldn’t be the norm, but there as a fall back when you need the time due to unforeseen circumstances.
I done a bit of small scale project management, and reading up on the subject it’s advised not to include overtime working in calculations for project timescales as then you have that to bring the project back on target if and when the timings start to slip back and maybe 15 hour days should be viewed the same way.
Although it says that he “raised his concerns with HR etc” how do we know that he didn’t just ■■■■ and moan down the phone at them? From what he know, he said his piece to his manager then moved it up to HR when he didn’t get the response he was looking for yet still did the job anyway because he was worried about losing employment only to have another manager rock up a week later telling him to jog on. That is pretty ■■■■ poor employer/employee relations if anything.
I do feel for him though, a 15 hour day when you don’t do them regulary is a long time, do we know how long his shift the day before was? Also, how many of you here are in such a position where you can walk into work on a Monday, find out you’ve had extra runs added, throw all your toys out of the pram and still have a job on the Tuesday?
So far I haven’t found Harvey and Brockless on the VOSA website as holders of an operator’s licence, however it may be under another name. If they do indeed operate HGV, then their conduct regarding any vehicle in their possession will be of interest to the TC. Whatever the true issues involved turn out to be, any nominated TM is likely to have to explain whether he is exercising proper control over day to day operation, regardless of however junior may be his position in the company management structure.
cav551:
So far I haven’t found Harvey and Brockless on the VOSA website as holders of an operator’s licence, however it may be under another name. If they do indeed operate HGV, then their conduct regarding any vehicle in their possession will be of interest to the TC. Whatever the true issues involved turn out to be, any nominated TM is likely to have to explain whether he is exercising proper control over day to day operation, regardless of however junior may be his position in the company management structure.
According to Google they are a “fine food company”. I guessing its a company like Brakes, serving caters.
muckles:
As for doing 15 hour days, I find them useful now and then, but then I have a fair degree of control of the hours I do. Although I do think they shouldn’t be the norm, but there as a fall back when you need the time due to unforeseen circumstances.
Yeh that is more or less what I was trying to say, but some firms do expect it for drivers to treat it as the norm…but worse, and unbelievably so , some drivers think it’s compulsory. How many times have you heard the ’ I’ll take my 11 off tonight, that will be one of them out of the way’ …ffs mostly said by the work/sleep, endurance test crew.
I wasn’t really applying my the opinion directly to the subject of the o/p, that guy was a bit of a knob and an opportunist imo.