Employers discriminating against bikers (BMF)

The BMF are looking for evidence to support some reports they’ve received of employers discriminating against employees using motorcycles to travel for work reasons (e.g. visiting clients) and in some cases even for commuting.

That’s completely unacceptable in my opinion and those employers should be called out.

I can understand employers not wanting staff to turn up to client or supplier meetings in their biking kit, so I’m not surprised at this report. However dictating on how the travel to work is a whole different story and I’m sceptical at the accuracy of this report.

I worked for Bank and commuted to work on my bike for many years without issue. I would not have considered going to a client or supplier meeting on my bike, definitely go in business attire in the car.

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An employee (who should know anyway) can be told that certain attire is expected when meeting clients. How that person arrives and prepares themselves appropriately should be none of the employer’s business. It’s certainly a lot simpler to go in a car or public transport and that’s what I’ve always done, too, but the choice should be with the employee.

There isn’t an actual report as such, just some reports that have been made to the BMF, presumably by their members.

The BMF’s Alex Parsons-Hulse has received reports recently that point to ‘several’ companies banning employees from using their motorcycles for trips that are in relation to their employment.

I’m sure there are some people out there trying to over-manage their employess - we’ve all seen them. It’s probably just a few exceptions but still, let’s not see a precedent started.

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If employers are discriminating against people using their bikes for business purposes it’s probably because of ‘Risk Assessment”. Even though the employees would have to sort their own insurance for business use, the employer potentially remains liable for any accident they have while travelling for work purposes, and travelling by motorcycle is simply far more hazardous than travelling by car or public transport, and in our increasingly litigious society the chances of an employer being successfully sued are probably too great.

How many adverts do you see from ambulance chasing law firms saying “Have you had an accident at work that wasn’t your fault….” Well, business travel qualifies as “work”.

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An employer could write something in to a contract about following company travel policy but they can’t force you to take one form of transport over another otherwise. They’d also have to justify their policy if it was challenged. Pretty easy if they’re explainng why you can’t fly everywhere in First Class, perhaps not so easy if they’re justifying a decision with ‘we might get sued’, especially if there’s no precedent.

I think you have misunderstood my post. From my experience there is unlikely to be an area at the client site in which to get changed, hence my point about arriving in your biking kit. If there is an appropriate area then your point is valid, but I still think it is not the best way to arrive at a clients site for a meeting.

For years I only had a motorbike, no car, and at times during then I was required to wear a suit. I visited our clients and suppliers on the bike. My suit jacket went in the topbox or panniers dependent on bike. My trousers bottoms were tucked into my socks (like cyclists) and I wore overtrousers. The shoes went into the luggage, at the site I’d park up somewhere, put the tie, jacket and shoes back on. Grab the briefcase from the luggage, put the biking kit in the bike luggage and no-one was the wiser when I turned up at reception. Amazingly it was very infrequently that I had to deal with heavy rain as I recall, but I had a small collapsible brolly that I kept in my briefcase just in case.
I suppose I was discriminated against eventually because instead of getting a pay increase, they gave me a company car…but I still used the bike when I could.
It’s hard to lump companies as discriminating, as in my experience it was often your manager, or their manager that did it rather than policy. So I agree that it should not be relevant how the person travels, just that they are appropriately attired when they arrive.
When I think about my bikes they were chosen for the ability to perform this dual role. I liked to have a fairing and a big topbox or slim panniers, even when I branched out on my own I continued this and it’s the main reason I bought the trophy 1200/4 as it had the weather protection and slim fitting panniers that meant I could still squeeze through traffic.
I have no idea how it is now in the workplace as I no longer need to work.

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I meant to make this point earlier but not sure I did. Any report of potential discrimination must be followed by a bunch of questions to work out what the situation is exactly before jumping to conclusions. Although jumping to conclusions is the way society seems to work these days. :roll_eyes:

Most large companies seem to have a permanenet ‘smart/casual’ dress code, with the emphasis on smart for client meetings and some more conservative places are still fully suited, no doubt. I haven’t worn a suit in an office on a regular basis for many a year.

I suspect you’re spot on. Likely insurance requirements too - I know that’s the case a my company, even if the vehicle concerned is privately owned . As stated above, visiting a client, supplier, etc or going to a meeting is deemed to be business travel. In fact, commuting to an office that isn’t your normal base is considered to be business travel too.

Employers still don’t have any say, how you travel. If I can be reimbursed for travel by train by decide to fly, that’s my lookout. For your own transport, it’s your own insurance that matters.

No, that’s not correct, Saul. If there’s a travel policy then employees need to adhere to it, and most will cover private vehicles when used for business ( I have first hand experience, btw).

It may be irritating, but…

Poor choice of words when I said they don’t have a say. That’s what the policies are for. I meant they can’t legally force you to avoid certain modes of transport.

The companies I’ve worked for have travel policies but that’s largely about controlling costs rather than mandating one form of transport over another. I’ve never been told I can’t make my own travel arrangements but if they’re outside the company’s travel policy then I may not be be reimbursed and the company insurance wouldn’t cover me, presumably.

Well, costs and H&S risks, certainly in the case of travel policies. Anyway, I suspect your last sentence is correct, unless and until you’re involved in an accident. I’d not want to be in that position myself.

With working from home being so prevalent these days and insurance companies making a big deal about the way we use our vehicles, I expect many of us avoid any extra costs so that could be an issue if choosing to use your own vehicle for company business. Falling in to line with the company may make sense at that point.

Should’ve posted this before. It’s a link to the BMF page about the alleged bans.

You can argue that employers are being overly cautious in trying to ban the use of motorcycles for business travel, but I can understand why they might want to do this. If any employee dies or suffers life changing injuries whilst working then the potential consequences for the employer could be financially ruinous and it may even be a case that their business liability insurance wouldn’t cover them if there’s a motorcycle exclusion. Even if there isn’t, it would still be a nightmare scenario for any employer.

When I was working, one of my roles was renewing and assessing the company’s insurance requirements which with every passing year was becoming increasingly onerous due to new health & safety requirements and an increasing number of exclusions.

Would I have banned employees from using a motorcycle for business travel? Probably not, but I can understand why some employers might.

As it happened I was the only employee who regularly used a motorcycle for commuting and for business travel I would always use the car or train, so it never came up.

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