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Right of lien
Page 40
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One of our customers, a bakery, has gone out of business leaving unpaid bills. We have four of its vehicles on our premises. Do we have right of lien?
CV repair firm, name and address supplied
The answer to this would depend on the terms and conditions of any agreement you had with the bakery. If you have carried out work on the vehicle to which the unpaid bills relate, and there is an absence of specific terms and conditions to the contrary, then under general law a specific lien for the unpaid bills arises —allowing you to retain the vehicles upon which you have worked against the amount billed on those particular vehicles, although you cannot dispose of them.
There is a note of caution here: if the bakery has gone out of business an administration order may have been made, which could cause complications —and you should take specific legal advice with regard to this.
Unpaid break
I drive for a large operator, which now wants to treat one of my 45-minute daily rest breaks as a lunch hour and withhold pay for it. Because of the nature of my work I do not take an official lunch hour and always thought I was entitled to be paid for periods of rest designated under the drivers' hours regulations. Can you tell me where I stand-,' Michael Bentley Great Dunmow, Essex
The wording of your question suggests that at the moment you are paid for all your duty time including the 45-minute breaks you take. but now your employer is altering this situation. If that is the case. then it would appear to amount to a change in your conditions of employment.
If the effect of this enforced change is a reduction in your pay then this is likely to be a breach of contract in respect of which a claim could be brought to an Employment Tribunal by you under the Wages Act; moreover, it is potentially a situation where you might be entitled to allege that you were constructively dismissed. The important feature of this question is that your employer would apparently wish to change the existing status quo.
Fuel card theft
Recently my fuel card was stolen but I was .Inaware of this for a week as I was on holiday In my absence the card was fraudulently used to the tune of £1,700 of fuel. The card company is insisting that I pay for this despite the police accepting that a fraud has been committed. What are my rights?
Michael Bell Rydon, Essex
The answer to this does rather depend on the terms and conditions you agreed loon supply of the card. It is not uncommon for card companies to accept the burden of the fraud unless they consider you have been in some way negligent or otherwise at fault.
There may be a term in the conditions that they refund or make good any loss as long as it is notified to them within 48 hours. If you have not done this you may have to suffer the loss. While it is unfortunate that you were on holiday, a court may considerthat the failure to notify the company in time has contributed to the loss.