Unreasonable distance between work locations?

[annerk]

The additional milage to the more remote location should computed at 20 miles, as she's going to go 10 miles to get to work no matter what. The current IRS reimbursement rate is $.50 a mile.

[Kristin85]

Since the OP said "this will cost us about 9 dollars a day just in gas and I'm not sure if she would even be able to make enough to come out ahead after taxes" it sounds as though the wife will not be reimbursed for mileage. I am salaried and ineligible to receive mileage/transportation reimbursement unless I attend an event/function off of company property; we have a secondary office and if I had to go there for work I would not be reimbursed. However, I do not feel that asking anyone to commute 30 miles to work is outrageous; it's actually very common.

If the wife is only making $10-$15/hour and needs to regularly commute 30 miles, the position would not be a good fit financially.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by Kristin85

Since the OP said "this will cost us about 9 dollars a day just in gas and I'm not sure if she would even be able to make enough to come out ahead after taxes" it sounds as though the wife will not be reimbursed for mileage. I am salaried and ineligible to receive mileage/transportation reimbursement unless I attend an event/function off of company property; we have a secondary office and if I had to go there for work I would not be reimbursed. However, I do not feel that asking anyone to commute 30 miles to work is outrageous; it's actually very common.

If the wife is only making $10-$15/hour and needs to regularly commute 30 miles, the position would not be a good fit financially.

However if they are in a more rural area where jobs are scarcer, it's better to be working and not making as much as you'd like to be making than to not be working at all.

[andreaspercheron]

Originally Posted by wcnwzrd

My wife went in for an initial interview today and the Manager stated that the owner does the second interviews but he normally requires that people be able to work at both locations he owns. One is about 10 miles away, the other location is an extra 30 miles away.

What I ask is if this is a reasonable distance to expect your employees to travel? My wife's vehicle will get around 20 miles to the gallon and this will cost us about 9 dollars a day just in gas and I'm not sure if she would even be able to make enough to come out ahead after taxes and all the other crud they pull out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as always.

You kind of answered your own question here. With gas prices over $3 a gallon in most areas, wear and tear on car, tolls (if applicable), you really do need to consider all of the costs involved if it's even advantageous for her to consider a 60 mile round trip drive.

I'm losing my job in March. The closest similar job I MIGHT have a chance at getting at my current rate of pay, is over 50 miles away. Obviously with my car (19 years old, lol) and the mileage, tolls, gas, wear and tear .. it's simply not smart to do.

I would really think about the cost involved, what she's getting paid and how much it's worth it before accepting anything. The flip side is that this is a tough market for jobs, and if she's even being considered, you may want her to work there even until something closer is available.

Good luck!

[Nick99]

I'd rather put my car through 60 miles a day of highway driving, than 10 miles city. If a car only did highway mileage, even the biggest lemon would last 500k miles.

[caldercay]

Originally Posted by wcnwzrd

My wife went in for an initial interview today and the Manager stated that the owner does the second interviews but he normally requires that people be able to work at both locations he owns. One is about 10 miles away, the other location is an extra 30 miles away.

What I ask is if this is a reasonable distance to expect your employees to travel? My wife's vehicle will get around 20 miles to the gallon and this will cost us about 9 dollars a day just in gas and I'm not sure if she would even be able to make enough to come out ahead after taxes and all the other crud they pull out.

It's always been my experience that the employee is responsible
for travel expenses to and from the workplace. There is one
possible exception to this and that would be if you're required to
drive to a destination other than the main office; for example,
if you're driving to a client's office which is beyond the distance
to your own [employer's] office.

To further this ... let's say it's 10 miles from your house to your
employer's main office (your primary workplace). Your employer
has a client and you're expected to perform work at the client's
office - the client's office is 20 miles from your house. Many
employers (my experience, anyway) will allow you to submit for
reimbursement for the extra 10 miles driven - the amount to be
reimbursed is usually based on the government's standard (which
is, I believe, 0.51/mile as of Jan 1, 2011).

It might be worth it for your wife to ask if she can be compensated
to drive to the office which is farther away, if she has to drive for
"exceptional reasons" - in other words, let's say the closer office is
her primary workplace and she has to drive to the farther office
on occasion because "it's more convenient to have her there where
the boss is".

The question I would ask is, "why does she need to be at the other
office"? Is it for the convenience of others? Or is there some
demand of her job duty that she be at the other office?

[PJSaturn]

Originally Posted by wcnwzrd

My wife went in for an initial interview today and the Manager stated that the owner does the second interviews but he normally requires that people be able to work at both locations he owns. One is about 10 miles away, the other location is an extra 30 miles away.

What I ask is if this is a reasonable distance to expect your employees to travel? My wife's vehicle will get around 20 miles to the gallon and this will cost us about 9 dollars a day just in gas and I'm not sure if she would even be able to make enough to come out ahead after taxes and all the other crud they pull out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as always.

Is it a reasonable distance for an employer to expect his employees to travel? Yes, it is reasonable. Each employee just has to decide whether it is worth it for him/her.

Some of the employees of the company may live half-way between the two locations. It's not the employer's problem if one employee lives farther away than the others do. It's either worth it to you, or it's not. This has nothing to do with the employer's reasonableness. It's not as though he hired your wife to work at one location and then, after she started work, he informed her, "By the way, you are expected to travel 3 days a week to X location, which is 30 miles farther from your home."

Actually, my former employer (where I worked for almost 21 years until I was downsized out of my job a few years ago) actually did that to me once. I'd been working there for over 10 years - in WALKING distance of my home - and suddenly they decided they wanted me to work at the satellite office 20 miles away. Exact same job; just at the other office. I estimated the expense of the commute and hit them up for the additional money. Surprisingly, they went for it, and actually gave me a raise that was more than I'd asked for! Even more surprisingly, 3 years later, when they returned me to the main office near home, they did not lower my pay.