Tribunal result
An ex-member has taken the Society to an
Employment Tribunal. I have heard
various rumours concerning the
situation; but this is the first
opportunity I have had to set the record
straight with the facts as they
happened.
On 28 November 2006, Dial-a-Cab expelled Mr Anthony Gillam for
consistent non-compliance with the
Society’s 40-trip rule. In the 6-month
period prior to his expulsion, he had
completed a total of just 7 account
trips.
Mr Gillam explained in his Complaints Meeting that he had a back
problem, which meant he had a preference
for working out of Heathrow. He was
asked whether he would be prepared to
increase the number of account trips he
completed, but Mr Gillam declined and
asked for the 40-trip rule to be
cancelled entirely in his case.
Dial-a-Cab is a Mutual Society run for the benefit of
the members. In order to meet the
requirements of our account customers
and to ensure the continuity and
viability of our Society, we operate the
minimum account trip rule and rely on
members to complete a minimum of 40
account trips each month. The Complaints
Committee decided that it was not
appropriate to cancel the 40-trip rule
completely and in the absence of any
indication from Mr Gillam that he was
prepared to compromise, they decided
that the only option was to expel him.
This decision was later upheld on
appeal.
On 26 February 2007, Mr Gillam brought various Employment Tribunal
claims against the Society. Mr Gillam
claimed he was an employee of the
Society or a worker, raised a whistle
blowing issue and also claimed there
had been a breach of working time
legislation. All were dismissed at a
preliminary hearing, however, the claim
that Mr Gillam’s back problem amounted
to a disability proceeded to a full
merits hearing.
On 9 April 2008, the Employment Tribunal published its written
judgement. Although the Tribunal found
that Mr Gillam was capable of complying
with the 40-trip rule, they found that
his back problem was a disability and
that it would not have been unreasonable
for the Society to cancel the 40-trip
rule in his case. However, the Tribunal
stated they were satisfied that Mr
Gillam was not expelled because he was
disabled. |
Mr Gillam
was seeking compensation of £20,000 -
£40,000. The Tribunal awarded him £2,500
for ‘injury to his feelings’. As a
result of that judgement, Dial-a-Cab do
not feel it necessary to pursue an
appeal.
Safeguarding
Vulnerable Groups?
I recently attended a meeting at Minster
House, Marsham Street
with various Government officials,
together with representatives from the
LTDA and PCO. The purpose of the meeting
was to discuss safeguarding vulnerable
groups by the formation of a
government-backed body called the
Independent Safeguarding Authority
(ISA).
This body has been formed in the wake of the Soham tragedies, where
school caretaker Ian Huntley murdered
young girls Jessica Chapman and Holly
Wells. Consequently, if anyone comes
into contact through their job on a
regular basis either with children, the
elderly or any other vulnerable groups,
then they will have to be registered
with the ISA.
Any organisation that is brought into being to safeguard the more
vulnerable in our Society must be
welcomed, however, some of their
thinking does seem a little strange.
That is probably because the bureaucrats
are intending to foist legislation into
our industry and because the way in
which they are going to proceed makes it
abundantly clear they know nothing about
our business.
As an example; if you are going to baby-sit for a friend or
relative then there is no problem.
However, if someone baby-sits on a
regular basis for those same children
and does so for payment, then they will
have to be registered with the ISA. That
seems quite sensible! It’s when we come
onto the Transport Industry that things
become a little different.
If a bus/coach driver works for a school or elderly people’s home
on a regular basis and transports the
passengers to and fro, then he/she will
have to be registered with the ISA.
However, if a bus |
driver is driving a
‘normal’ bus
and he has a couple of schools on his
route that he picks-up from outside
every day, then he will not have to be
registered.
We now come on to taxis; if we pick up children or the elderly on a
regular basis and the contract is with
the radio circuit, the driver that picks
them up regularly has to be registered.
But if those very same people order a
taxi privately - which would include the
TaxiCard scheme - then the driver
will not have to be registered –
confused? You should be…
The authorities have not thought through the introduction of this
scheme for London taxis. When a taxi
driver receives for the first time - or
indeed renews his taxi driver’s licence
- he/she is checked with the Criminal
Records Bureau (CRB), for which
there is a charge to the driver. In
future the normal CRB check will be
made, but if the driver wants ISA
registration then the same check will be
made with the CRB again and then he can
register with the ISA for a ‘one off’
payment of £64. This new scheme seems
quite ludicrous to me, as we will have
taxi drivers that are registered and
those that are not. It seems only
sensible to me that when the initial CRB
check is made and of course assuming
everything is ok, the driver should
automatically be registered with the
ISA. If we are already undergoing a CRB
check, then that is sufficient to be
registered with the ISA. The public
quite rightly expect that any taxi
driver in London should be a ‘fit and
proper person’ and we have all undergone
the same tests and checks. It appears
this might not be the case in the future
- and it’s wrong!
What was particularly annoying is that the meeting was held on a
Monday and the government announced
their plans two days later on the
Wednesday, whereas the meeting should
have been held some months earlier so
the views of the attendees at the
meeting could have been taken into
account. Whilst all should welcome the
new legislation, the registration to the
new system by London taxi drivers is
completely ludicrous and the authorities
have got it wrong! The scheme comes into
operation on 12 October 2009; I am led
to believe it will take up to five years
for total implementation…
Brian Rice
Chairman
Dial-a-Cab |
