Company won't purchase a taxsaver ticket.

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qwerty5

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My other half has started a job where she has to get a bus each day. It's €8 return a day (Swords Express).
She contacted her HR to start getting set up for a taxsaver ticket but they have a policy of not doing this until the person has been an employee for a year.
So great. She has to pay what equates to about twice the price of what she needs to pay for a year.

Does anybody know if you can get a taxsaver ticket if your company has a policy like this. Or is a policy like this even allowed. From a HR perspective it seems daft to me. Lets annoy your new employees as soon as they start in the company. Especially as, if the employee leaves the company can claim the unused portion back that they've paid for.
 
qwerty5 said:
Does anybody know if you can get a taxsaver ticket if your company has a policy like this.
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Sounds iffy at best. Does It cost the employer money if she leaves early I wonder ? Anywhere I worked and if you only paid monthly you needed to pay the amount owed for the rest of the year when/if you departed.
 
I can understand how in sectors or roles where there is a lot of turnover / temp working it may be a pain for payroll to be sorting out reclaiming money for staff who leave after a few months. But if she is in a role with longterm prospects that seems unfair. Maybe he could ask if they could review it after she has been there 6 months as a compromise, or pay up front for it rather than monthly etc
 
No, it's not a job that people are unlikely to leave after a few months. Just HR being HR.

She was going into work an hour early each day as she was getting the quicker bus and happy learning the ropes . She'll be happy enough getting the slower (cheaper) bus, grabbing a coffee and arriving at her desk bang on time from now on.
 
Did your wife enquire about a monthly ticket or just an annual ticket??
I can fully understand the many reasons why a company would refuse an annual ticket to a new employee but a monthly ticket might be viewed in a different light during the first year of employment
 
qwerty5 said:
No, it's not a job that people are unlikely to leave after a few months. Just HR being HR.

She was going into work an hour early each day as she was getting the quicker bus and happy learning the ropes . She'll be happy enough getting the slower (cheaper) bus, grabbing a coffee and arriving at her desk bang on time from now on.
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Not wise getting demotivated by a minor snafu like this. I can understand its annoying, and unfortunate that something like this arose at the start but she should put it behind her.
 
I know it’s annoying not to be able to take advantage of a tax break but €8 a day return isn’t too bad. Lots of people pay a lot more and lots of organisations don’t do the tax save, bike to work and other schemes.
Maybe after a few months she can ask them again and refer to her dedication in turning up early etc and make a case for them changing their policy to take advantage of this government scheme.

I suspect they have been bitten by people leaving or other events like that. Could be any number of reasons why they are reluctant to get stuck into paperwork for new staff.

If she likes the job it shouldn’t be a deal breaker.
 
Annieindublin said:
I know it’s annoying not to be able to take advantage of a tax break but €8 a day return isn’t too bad. Lots of people pay a lot more and lots of organisations don’t do the tax save, bike to work and other schemes.
Maybe after a few months she can ask them again and refer to her dedication in turning up early etc and make a case for them changing their policy to take advantage of this government scheme.

I suspect they have been bitten by people leaving or other events like that. Could be any number of reasons why they are reluctant to get stuck into paperwork for new staff.

If she likes the job it shouldn’t be a deal breaker.
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The taxsaver scheme was mentioned in the recruitment process so it's a small consideration when accepting the job. They didn't mention it was only after a year.
The cost to the company to fill in the form is €0. OK, maybe 5 minutes worth of work to fill out the form so not 100% free to fill out.

Not sure how much a company would be "bitten" considering the tickets can be purchased monthly. They'd prefer to annoy new staff rather than take the risk on a whole €80 a month.

It's not a deal breaker for her. Just a paycut in year one. Bit surprised that a few posters think that's fine.
 
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Cervelo said:
Did your wife enquire about a monthly ticket or just an annual ticket??
I can fully understand the many reasons why a company would refuse an annual ticket to a new employee but a monthly ticket might be viewed in a different light during the first year of employment
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Yes of course. It's just a policy they have. No taxsavers in year one. She offered to pay them in advance (I know that would make their life more complicated but if the risk is the employee leaving then that removes that risk).
 
Well of course I wasn’t aware of what her salary was. Nor was I aware of her tax situation. And I see you’ve edited out the 3.5% of her take home pay reference.

I pay a mere €4 a day travelling but the short commute didn’t happen by accident.

All the costs of going to work are part and parcel of job seeking and salary negotiation.

I had a look at some of our HR policies… lots aren’t available to to new staff. Mat leave top up… 2 years service. Paying for/subsidising further education, 2 years service plus you refund if you leave within a year of course completion and it must be relevant to current role, Unpaid Carers leave. Must be there for a year. Parental leave… one year again,,,

Tax saver tickets, 6 months

And BTW completing a form has a cost. And payroll deductions have a cost. Employees in hr and payroll don’t work for free as you say but asking for a change and not getting p’d off at the get go might be a better approach,
 
So roughly €1,800 a year. Although the swords express website says the annual price is €1,400, I guess there’s a saving by buying an annual ticket.
And with tax saver it’d be €1,061 or €762 depending on tax rates, which may depend on how you are assessed.

I agree €433/€33 a month would be better in her pocket than the tax man coffers.
.
 
Annieindublin said:
Well of course I wasn’t aware of what her salary was. Nor was I aware of her tax situation. And I see you’ve edited out the 3.5% of her take home pay reference.

I pay a mere €4 a day travelling but the short commute didn’t happen by accident.

All the costs of going to work are part and parcel of job seeking and salary negotiation.

I had a look at some of our HR policies… lots aren’t available to to new staff. Mat leave top up… 2 years service. Paying for/subsidising further education, 2 years service plus you refund if you leave within a year of course completion and it must be relevant to current role, Unpaid Carers leave. Must be there for a year. Parental leave… one year again,,,

Tax saver tickets, 6 months

And BTW completing a form has a cost. And payroll deductions have a cost. Employees in hr and payroll don’t work for free as you say but asking for a change and not getting p’d off at the get go might be a better approach,
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If you read my first post I was asking if we could apply for it ourselves. She's not p'd off and asking for a change. I apologise for asking if there was a way for us to save several hundred quid that the tax man is just going to get.

I'm only annoyed with people saying "it doesn't bother me or that's life". That's great for you that your commute is short and doesn't cost you much. You know not everybody has that choice right?

I mentioned that taxsaver was mentioned during the recruitment process so it was part of the job seeking process. It is her fault for not asking if it only started after a year. I wouldn't have thought of it either as I've never worked in a company that had that policy.

You point out policies in your company that aren't available to new staff and cost the company a fortune. I know filling out a taxsaver form is not free to a company. The few minutes work has to be paid for but hardly in the same league as maternity leave or further education :rolleyes:

Anyway as it doesn't appear she can apply for it outside of through her HR we'll just have to gift the taxman €732 (according to the Swords Express website) this year.
 
qwerty5 said:
Anyway as it doesn't appear she can apply for it outside of through her HR we'll just have to gift the taxman €732 (according to the Swords Express website) this year.
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Just wondering if there is a trade union in her company and see what advice they can give. Seems unfair to use it as an incentive in the recruitment process and then quote this policy because it suits them.
 
Sue Ellen said:
Just wondering if there is a trade union in her company and see what advice they can give. Seems unfair to use it as an incentive in the recruitment process and then quote this policy because it suits them.
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Nah. No union. I'd say if there was this wouldn't be an issue.
If there was a union it's not something she'd be bringing up anyway. It's fine asking about it but not rocking any boat while she's in probation.
 
My experience with HR is they're pretty useless. Optics by the companies to pretend they care about employees. Is there more than one in HR ? I'd subtly try mentioning this to your own manager or whoever might listen. There must be a night out due where it could be brought into the discussion along the lines of 'I live all the way out in Swords but luckily in a years time I'll be allowed avail of the tax saver ticket which .....'
 
elcato said:
My experience with HR is they're pretty useless. Optics by the companies to pretend they care about employees. Is there more than one in HR ? I'd subtly try mentioning this to your own manager or whoever might listen. There must be a night out due where it could be brought into the discussion along the lines of 'I live all the way out in Swords but luckily in a years time I'll be allowed avail of the tax saver ticket which .....'
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She had requested it through her manager. Her manager wasn't aware of the policy before this and was on her side. HR says no though.
I don't know how many people there are in HR. The company isn't that large so I don't imagine there's more than one or two.
 
Sorry, I misinterpreted your post about her coming in exactly on time from now on as displaying a level of irritation with the company.

And I’d say the end of her probation would be a good time to ask them to revisit it.


And my commute is a choice right enough, a choice of mortgage and job. Took me a while to find it.

HR have only one concern.., to get the resources in place to meet the company goals. At minimum cost and effort.
 
qwerty5 said:
Anyway as it doesn't appear she can apply for it outside of through her HR we'll just have to gift the taxman €732 (according to the Swords Express website) this year.
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No mention of the taxman "gifting" you and your missus €3,750 in annual employee tax credits? :D
 
I'd just make a comment that it was part of the sales pitch for the job and that it would be wise to remove it for future job openings as it is not available to new employees and therefore is misleading.
 
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