Car allowance & being forced to fit a tracker device

[GuRu]

Hope someone can shed some light on this:

An employee receives a car allowance and uses "private motor vechile for work" ,the employer insists that the car be fitted with a tracking device to monitor the "private & business mileage"

What is the legality of this and what rights does the employee have as the vechile is not a company asset.

 

[longboy]

They can't, because the car does not belong to them.

 

[GuRu]

That is what i said and based it on the Bill of rights Section 14 "privacy act" .

 

[Stefanmuller]

It is a private car, so it seems illegal and infringement of privacy. But if the employee is a sales rep the employer might want to track whether he is actually driving to clients. But then he must supply a company car if he wants to fit a tracker

 

[noxibox]

Unless they're paying per kilometre travelled for business purposes I can't see any reason why it is any of their business. And that's not a travel allowance anyway. I can't recall if they've now made travel logs mandatory for income tax, but regardless these days a travel allowance is little more than deferred taxation unless you keep a log anyway. And I'd say ultimately that's between the taxman and the individual.

 

[Mean_Monster]

I tend to agree with Shaun108, Car Allowance is just another form of payment really. The car however is in your name. Do they perhaps require the tracker unit to determine the petrol costs you incurred for business?

Or is this car allowance to cover both the fixed and variable cost?

 

[GuRu]

Basically trying to determine actual business mileage to reduce fuel costs.
A very accurate logbook is kept for SARS purposes.

 

[noxibox]

I tend to agree with Shaun108, Car Allowance is just another form of payment really. The car however is in your name. Do they perhaps require the tracker unit to determine the petrol costs you incurred for business?

Or is this car allowance to cover both the fixed and variable cost?

That's compensation for business travel not a travel allowance which would be a fixed amount and taxable.

Basically trying to determine actual business mileage to reduce fuel costs.
A very accurate logbook is kept for SARS purposes.

So they reimburse you for actual travel?

 

[Mars]

So why not just get an electronic log book? Its a GPS, but its not a tracker. You download the logs off the thing and submit them. Everyones happy.

Unless of course youre a sales rep and part of the trackers function is to make sure youre on your rounds and not at the pub.

 

[GPSJane]

They cannot require that you fit a tracking device on a private vehicle but they can require that you keep a log book - SARS does require this anyway.

If they want to track that you are doing your job and not off the required route they have to supply you with a company vehicle fitted with their own tracking device.

My advice is to look up the relevant acts; Labour, Privacy etc and find the relevant text to support your position. It's lovely when you find a piece of law in writing, no one can argue with that!

 

[Kosmik]

So why not just get an electronic log book? Its a GPS, but its not a tracker. You download the logs off the thing and submit them. Everyones happy.

Unless of course youre a sales rep and part of the trackers function is to make sure youre on your rounds and not at the pub.

This. A lot of mates use them to submit business milage without having a actual tracking unit installed.

 

[Tigerman]

A car allowance is an employee benefit, part of the employee's total remuneration package or other scheme. it's terms are governed by the employment contract etc. if the contract says the car should have a tracking device, then that's what it must have. so, check the contract. the company may have a reasonable right of expectation the employee is using the benefit properly. (or the tracking device can tell the company what its worker is getting up to, hey). can one object if the company says the vehicle must be insured? No.
anyway, insurance companies may insist on tracking devices for vehicles over R150K.

 

[Fudzy]

Also find out if it's the company or the company's insurance company? If you know the company is actively monitoring it's 'tracked' cars, then you have your answer.