Advice on Unpaid Car Allowance

Lunpaidallowance on 27/03/2018 - 23:59
Last edited 28/03/2018 - 00:14 by 1 other user

Hi ozbargain,

Firstly, apologies for making a throwaway account but my other username makes me too easy to identify.

I've had issues at work where the boss man is underpaying me (I think) car allowance. I work in the healthcare field doing reception work, performing medical testing set ups, marketing to doctors and also placing people on special therapy for their illness. I think I should be covered by the Health support services award which award $0.78 per km.

I have gotten paid about 80 dollars a month for 6 months of my 9 months here, with a lot of travel. I have used google maps to log all my travel with the timeline feature and calculated my business miles. In November alone I did over 1000km in business miles (that is transporting stock/ marketing miles and travel between work place locations, NOT from home to work etc.). On average I would say there is about 700km a month in business travel.

One time I was given no car allowance to travel 215 km to market to doctors. Surely I should have gotten some sort of allowance for this? I probably netted $140 after tax that day and spent $35-40 on petrol.

Also it is ok for the company to require staff to store stock and inventory in their personal car? I am not able to drive utilise the back seats of my car or the boot of my car as it is filled with work inventory. This means I have to find room for it around my house and spend an hour unpacking it before i use it each weekend.

Do you guys think I have a good enough case to bring this to small claims court? Should I get fairwork involved? Would i only be able to claim the business miles traveled? or would I be able to claim anything else for the use of my house and car as a storage facility for the company?

Any help or advice would be appreciated greatly.

(I took this job as a fresh grad desperate for experience)

• 

  dcep on 28/03/2018 - 00:30

  ask tax consultant

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  garetz on 28/03/2018 - 00:59

  +2

  What does your contract state, if no contract, look at your award. Talk to fairwork specifically, and then make a complaint.

  • 

    spal on 28/03/2018 - 05:21

    Looks like you have already done some research. I suggest, that you speak to Fairwork. Firstly confirm which award applies to you. Then go back to your contract and work reports and see that you had evidence to show this is indeed work related travel. Speak to your boss, and follow up with an email. Once you do that you are protected from any reprisal action, both under the Fairwork Act and the Equal Opportunities Act. Under these protections the onus is on the employer to show that their actions are reasonable and are not reprisal actions for exercising your workplace rights.
    Keep meticulous notes to back your story. It is quite possible that the boss doesn’t know or has not connected the dots about your business related expenses and other imposts. If he is happy with your performance, you may be pleasantly surprised that once you politely make your case with some examples he would come to the party. Especially, he knows if you have records and take it to Fairwork, he maybe prosecuted too.

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  whooah1979 on 28/03/2018 - 06:02

  would I be able to claim anything else for the use of my house and car as a storage facility for the company?

  Why don’t you take the stock back to the office or warehouse and unload it there after your shift?

  • 

    unpaidallowance on 28/03/2018 - 08:29

    We do not have an office/ warehouse. We lease rooms so I can't leave stuff there.

    • 

      whooah1979 on 28/03/2018 - 09:46

      Where do you collect stock from?

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  djkelly69 on 28/03/2018 - 07:13

  +1

  Have you raised it with the workplace? If so, what did they say?

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  bigballerbrand on 28/03/2018 - 08:12

  You should bring it up with your work first. Once you do, get ready to be "let go".

  • 

    unpaidallowance on 28/03/2018 - 08:29

    I've already resigned. Working out my stupid long notice period.

    • 

      bigballerbrand on 28/03/2018 - 08:43

      OK Perfect, now you can go hard at them without the risk of losing your job etc.

      Good luck. I hope you get what you're entitled to.

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  DarkOz on 28/03/2018 - 09:16

  For the car claim you need to check your award/employer/Fairwork. Sometimes the vehicle claim is through the ATO by the km travelled or other methods.

  For using your private vehicle for storage, it depends on your contract. Was it part of the condition of employment?

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  [Deactivated] on 28/03/2018 - 09:46

  +1

  Why wouldn’t you just ask this question to your line manager? From what you’ve written, it’s a terribly unreasonable expectation. I just don’t know why you wouldn’t have this conversation with your employer before considering small claims court and such.

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  redforever on 28/03/2018 - 10:11

  +1

  If your contract says you won't be reimbursed for the car kilometres, I think you can claim them as deductions dor genuine work kilometres when completing your tax return.

  It's not full reimbursement, but at least it's something.

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  [Deactivated] on 28/03/2018 - 10:43

  +1

  You are describing a legal problem, not an ethical or community problem. Legal problem.

  Get a lawyer.

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  Seraphin7 on 28/03/2018 - 12:00

  I've had issues at work where the boss man is underpaying me (I think) car allowance.

  Firstly, determine your situation. If you're unsure your being underpaid, it's hard to offer any suggestions.

  Secondly, on what basis is this allowance paid? Do you submit a claim to your employer for the kilometres traveled based on your record keeping and those claims are not being paid? It's hard to work out if you are actually putting in claims, or just expecting the employer to work out they need to pay you based on the tasks you are given.

  • 

    Iamnotcheap on 28/03/2018 - 22:12

    Exactly this…. I get the sense OP should be putting in a claim, and they’ve (employer) figured they’d pay something as they know his travelled…

    OP - Are you submitting expense claims to validate the distrance travelled? What you speak of is not a car allowance. A car allowance is a defined benefit usually within your contract (I.e. $5/10/20k per year). What you referring to is just a reimbursement of mileage travelled at a desired rate (commonly matching the ATO rate). And if this is just mileage reimbursement, an employer will require an expense claim to substantiate the distance for tax reasons.