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Network Rail use commuting time in redundancy plan
۲۶ بهمن ۱۳۹۰ ساعت ۱۹:۴۱
مرجع : Rail Network News
Tinn news: Network Rail has angered unions by placing staff who live more than 75 minutes from its new office at risk of redundancy.
The rail firm is moving its headquarters from London Euston to Milton Keynes in June, with several hundred staff expected to relocate. However, it has reportedly told staff that the maximum reasonable commuting distance to the new office is 75 minutes, and staff who are unable or unwilling to move home will lose their jobs.
The decision is thought to affect around 150 employees who live south of the river Thames in Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire. But the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) union has written to Network Rail threatening legal action, saying that it ought to be up to individuals to decide whether their commute is reasonable.
"This is an unfair and arbitrary decision which we believe to be unlawful,” said Manuel Cortes, the TSSA general secretary. “This modern-day version of Beat the Clock to get to work is a complete nonsense.
"They are telling staff they cannot follow their jobs in the worst recession in 70 years. With unemployment heading towards three million, where else are they going to find work in these hard times?"
But Network Rail have defended the decision, saying that it is legal and is necessary to ensure that staff working at the new headquarters have a sensible work-life balance.
Managers will be allowed a slightly longer commute, up to 90 minutes, as the organisation wants to ensure it retains its best talent, said Network Rail.
Network Rail was at the centre of a separate controversy earlier this month when its new bonus scheme for senior executives was criticised by transport secretary Justine Greening. Chief executive Sir David Higgins later waived his bonus along with six top executives.
