Category: Advice for HR Teams

Do future drivers fit the bill beyond their CV?

27th June 2023 No Comments Advice for HR Teams

Good fit for the team? Got the right qualifications and experience? Questions like this are commonly asked when interviewing. Although… did you check their driving licence? According to Licence Link, employers often overlook driving licence checks during the interview process. This can result in costly consequences – including having to rehire, putting other road users at risk, facing a drop in productivity due to driver downtime, and even breaking the law.

Fleet and HR Managers should take precautions when hiring to save time and money. They can do this by incorporating licence checks into their recruitment process, ideally before offering a job. Candidates may hold back information if not asked to take a licence check, and if an employee commits a driving offence whilst holding a critical level of points, this can incur serious consequences for the business. As an employer, it’s within the duty of care to ensure every driver is regularly checked, to prevent such eventualities.

As a starting point, employers should refer to their insurance policy. It’s often outlined that drivers within the fleet mustn’t exceed a certain level of points, in order to be covered by the policy. Failing to check the status of new employees’ licences could have implications on their cover. Inevitably, this means that if an employer sends out an uninsured driver – knowingly or unknowingly – they’d be held liable. Not only would they be breaking the law but this would also invalidate their policy, leaving them responsible for any damages caused in the event of an accident.

In addition, employers must also determine that candidates have the right licence for the role. If the fleet requires the applicant to drive a Category C vehicle, it’s key they have the correct licence. If not checked and the candidate is only qualified for a C1 licence, for example, they would not legally be qualified to carry out the role. A simple mistake but easy to prevent with the right tools! Melvin Jeffers, Head of Licence Link explains:

“It’s your duty as a business to ensure all drivers have a valid licence, right for the job. Regardless of the CV or candidate, checking their licence beforehand safeguards your business. Why risk the consequences when each check costs less than a coffee?” 

Licence Link helps businesses to stay on top of compliance with results returned in real-time, making it a fast, digital process:

“It saves time and provides the relevant information we need to fulfil roles successfully and efficiently” explains Licence Link customer, Cheshire West & Chester Borough Council.

In short, regular licence checking should be included as part of the hiring process. Licence Link automates the process, removing the need for any manual intervention or scheduling – so there really is no excuse for non-compliance. You wouldn’t buy a dangerous car so why hire someone who puts your business at risk? It’s a small price to pay!

Employee using phone dangerously in car.

Prevent Accidents and Protect Your Fleet

12th April 2023 No Comments Advice for HR Teams, Driver Compliance, Grey Fleet

We’re all human and accidents happen – it’s inevitable. However, it’s essential that businesses take precautions to reduce the risk their drivers pose to other road users. This is key for HR and Fleet Managers, often liable for handling thousands of drivers at once, with unthinkable consequences should they get it wrong. See how Licence Link, the digital licence checking tool, keeps fleets accountable and helps to eliminate risk:

1. Ensures Compliance with Insurance

Employers must adhere to the terms outlined by their insurance provider, so it’s essential to clarify these upfront. Often policies will exclude drivers with excess points, convictions, or endorsements. Failure to check employees’ licences, or sending out drivers who do not comply is a big mistake! In the event of an accident, the fleet policy could be void, leaving the employer to cover costly repairs or injury claims.

Licence Link makes it easy to comply. Fleet Managers can access a digital audit trail of every driver and branch, saving the search through filing cabinets or spreadsheets to ensure their team meet the insurer’s criteria. With Licence Link, managers can create customisable reports, filtering by driver profile, risk level or business structure – ensuring their team has the necessary training and qualifications specified. Phil Wong, Group Operations Director at T F Smiths UK Ltd explains –

“The service Licence Link provides is excellent – the reporting is vital in keeping our business safe and compliant, and our insurers love it too.”

2. Minimises Risk, Costs and Disruption

If Fleet Managers fail to check future employees’ licences before hiring, they could face driver downtime, a loss of productivity, and having to re-hire – not to mention the increased risk of an accident on the clock! Therefore, relying on new recruits to disclose points or endorsements is a poor gamble, likely to end in excess cost and disruption.

Using Licence Link, the HR team can send an eDeclaration to the candidate to sign from their phone, taking just moments. Results are returned in real time, removing any delays throughout the hiring process. Approval lasts three years, so the employer can carry out recurring checks without any further paperwork or hassle.

Fleet Managers must account for all remaining drivers. This includes grey fleet (employees who use their own vehicle for work-related journeys), plus associated drivers (partners or spouses who share company cars). It can be tricky to keep track when organising checks internally. With Licence Link, grey fleet and associated drivers are seamlessly maintained and checked alongside employees. Both driver types pose the same risk as a direct driver, so must not be overlooked.

3. Prevents Accidents and Unanticipated Costs

The stakes are high for using a high-risk or uninsured driver. This ranges from fines to invalid insurance, damage to reputation, and injuring other road users. A recent RAC survey indicates that a quarter of motorists with penalty points did not disclose them to their employers. Worryingly, this could lead to an increased risk of staff causing a road traffic accident, so employers must take their duty of care seriously.

Licence Link helps to maintain a frequent checking schedule without the responsibility of managing it manually or on a per-employee basis. It’s important to incorporate routine checks into the company policy, providing transparency and assurance for both driver and employer. Licence Link checks drivers in bulk, provides automatic alerts for upcoming checks or renewals, and makes it easy to alternate the frequency of checks. Will Blackshaw, Dealer Principal at Blackshaw’s explains –

“Each year I would chase over 50 staff members for licence copies to check with the DVLA and would find errors, then spend periods concerned about any potential unknown issues. I can now relax knowing that everything is checked on a regular basis. This has removed a big admin task and given us better protection for a very small cost.”

Advice from the Experts at Licence Link

The key to managing risk is to prepare ahead. There’s no excuse for non-compliance, especially with a system like Licence Link that handles every driver, eliminating human error, missed checks or delays. Accidents happen when businesses behave negligibly, so digitalising the process is the best course of action, especially with a sizeable fleet.

Learn how Licence Link can support your business.

HR/ office member under pressure

Relieve Pressure on your Fleet and Avoid HR Burnout

26th January 2023 No Comments Advice for HR Teams

Employers are paying more attention to their team’s well-being, facing increasing pressure to reduce stressful or unmanageable workloads, which can adversely affect mental health. Many fleets have streamlined processes – minimising unnecessary risk, hassle, and responsibility on employees. As a result, they’ve boosted productivity.

Using a provider like Licence Link, Fleet Managers can automate and digitalise their licence checking routine for an immediate positive impact on their team. Here’s how:

Avoid HR burnout without compromising compliance

Some HR teams schedule driver checks internally, juggling up to thousands of drivers. This heightens the risk of missed points or endorsements, relying on staff to diarise every reminder. Licence Link removes the need for manual scheduling, alerting HR in advance of any upcoming licence checks or renewals, saving valuable hours for overstretched teams. Andy Bealing, Fleet Manager at Exeter City Council, explains –

“Licence Link’s digital checking service always ensures we’re compliant with the DVLA. It’s removed a number of administrative duties, giving us more time to carry out other tasks.”

HR teams using the Government’s online checking service must complete extra paperwork and face longer lead times for results. This adds to the pressure and time constraints, as it’s essential they receive a response before drivers can hit on the road. With Licence Link, results are returned in real-time, streamlining the process and allowing staff to focus on other priorities.

Reduce strain on your team by keeping on top of your drivers

Non-compliance is costly – endangering road users, invalidating insurance policies, and even resulting in legal action. There’s no room for mistakes when lives are at risk!

Licence checking should be an integral part of the recruitment process, to ensure candidates have a valid licence before they’re offered the role. Any endorsements or disqualifications affecting their ability to work will be identified in advance, preventing unexpected downtime and a halt in productivity later.

Using Licence Link, Fleet Managers can adapt the frequency of checks – monitoring high-risk drivers more regularly. This is often complicated to handle in-house, especially with numerous drivers or branches. By automating the process, it’s less likely drivers will slip beneath the radar, relieving unnecessary pressure from team members.

“The system gives you the control that you need, allowing you to check company drivers and manage risk effectively. It’s completely automated, with notifications eliminating any manual intervention. This is a huge benefit with over 460 locations and over 4,000 drivers nationwide.” – explains Lafever-Ayer at Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

Relinquish the repetitive and time-consuming tasks

It’s frustrating for both the HR team and drivers when approval is needed for every check. With hundreds or thousands of employees to monitor on a rolling basis, it’s a monotonous cycle. Using Licence Link, drivers can sign a one-off eDeclaration from their phone. Approval lasts three years, alleviating unnecessary stress and interruptions –

“It’s made the process much quicker and simpler. We previously spent weeks chasing people for information for each check, but with Licence Link, you don’t have to. Staff prefer it because I’m not nagging them every few months about their licence checking. If you employ drivers, it’s a no-brainer.” – Will Blackshaw, Managing Director, Blackshaws.

To conclude…

The benefits of using a system like Licence Link are endless. From winning back valuable time to offloading excess paperwork – allowing your team to focus on other priorities – the impact on productivity and the mental health of your team is substantial. With more businesses now tuning into the well-being of their workforce, fleets should seriously consider switching up their processes to see real results.

Get in touch to see how your fleet can benefit from Licence Link.

Festive checks - winter driving conditions

Don’t let your responsibilities slip this festive season

13th December 2022 No Comments Advice for HR Teams, Driver Compliance

With the festive rush in full swing, it’s tempting for fleets to cut corners, especially with extra orders to fulfil and deliveries to be scheduled ahead of Christmas. Many fleets will be feeling the pressure – whether distributing parcels, delivering pizzas, or managing public transport routes. It’s vital that Fleet Managers stay on top of licence checking to avoid costly consequences, keeping their business sleighing ahead into the New Year.

Many fleets still coordinate driver checks in-house or use inadequate solutions, leaving their (already stacked) HR team to handle hundreds of checks and approvals. Adopting a system like Licence Link – with automated alerts, digital approvals, and real-time results – is a fast-track way to prevent missed endorsements, unexpected downtime, and skyrocketing stress levels. Here’s how…

Prevent your HR team from getting snowed under with excess paperwork

Fleets using the free online checking service (aimed at individual drivers) will spend hours inputting driver details and liaising with their team to manually approve checks. Licence Link helps avoid the associated bottlenecks and delays, whilst eliminating the need to gain approval each time.

Fleet Managers can automate alerts for every driver, so there’s no need to keep a manual record of upcoming checks. Whether you have 20 or 200 drivers, this is a significant time-saver, preventing the risk of missed endorsements. In addition, the HR team can ask drivers to sign a digital declaration straight from their phone – taking seconds. Approval lasts for three years, allowing the business to carry out unlimited checks, without continuously chasing for approval.

Protect the safety of other road users this Winter

As the weather turns, wet and icy driving conditions inevitably lead to an increase in road traffic accidents. Be sure all your team has a valid licence to minimise risk to other road users! Systems like Licence Link provide real-time results on driver checks. Another key factor is the maximum points covered by insurance providers. It’s essential to monitor any drivers at risk of exceeding this threshold, or fleets could unknowingly invalidate their policy. With Licence Link, HR teams can increase the frequency of checks for drivers in the high-risk zone. Ensure new points are quickly identified, and appropriate actions are taken.

Avoid unanticipated downtime impacting busy delivery schedules

With many fleets facing a spike in demand over the holiday, it’s key they have enough drivers to manage delivery schedules. An unexpected disqualification or exclusion due to excess points could be detrimental during the seasonal demand surge – leading to disgruntled customers, complaints, and excess stress on the remaining team. Licence Link provides Fleet Managers with complete visibility, enabling them to mitigate this risk. They can instantly access driver data at every branch. This enables them to determine which team members are nearing the threshold, allocating schedules accordingly. Alternatively, they can arrange a plan B or ensure extra drivers are on standby to minimise disruption.

Be sure your fleet complies and ace the festive rush

To get ahead and avoid disruption, businesses that coordinate licence checking in-house should re-evaluate. For a small fee per check Fleet Managers can mitigate disruption, save time, and ensure their schedules run efficiently. So, if your HR team is under pressure during this festive period, get ahead by adopting an automated solution, like Licence Link.

Get in touch today at: www.licencelink.co.uk

Team back from furlough? Don’t forget to check their licences

7th May 2021 No Comments Advice for HR Teams, COVID-19

More employees are returning to the workplace – some for the first time in months, as the UK lockdown continues to ease. Licence Link urges employers to take precautions before returning team members to the road again – a simple licence check can save getting stung.

During the furlough period, many businesses temporarily paused their routine licence checks for absent team members. It’s important to be aware of any driving convictions incurred, affecting their licence, before staff return. Failure to check could result in devastating consequences for a business.

From clocking points for a speeding ticket to more serious convictions, if an employee fails to disclose a change to their licence, their employer could face penalties. This includes insurance exemptions (above a certain level of points), driver downtime (loss of licence) or even breaking the law. Failure to check can result in hefty fines, or worse.

Over 2.8 million motoring offences were issued in 2018 and 2019* alone. Although the pandemic will have affected this volume for 2020/1, it clearly shows that motoring offences are not a rarity – so they should be anticipated. Employers are naive if they fail to take precautions as part of their duty of care, they must ensure the safety of other road users and essentially cover their backs.

Melvin Jeffers, Sales and Customer Relations Leader at Licence Link explains:

“As a business, your staff are your responsibility – why risk it? With Licence Link, each check costs less than a cup of coffee. We return the results in real-time, so there’s no delay when it comes to getting your team back on the road. It couldn’t be easier.”

For businesses with drivers yet-to-return from furlough, don’t forget to check licences before employees take to the wheel – it could save your business thousands.

New motorway rules increase the risk of collision, accidents or damage to vehicles

Get clued up on the latest rules to reduce risk

14th September 2018 No Comments Advice for HR Teams

In the last twelve months, there has been a number of risk-inducing changes for road users. Such changes can increase the risk of collision for drivers or could lead to new endorsements. Failure to identify new penalty points, gained by employees, could result in serious consequences for the employer. Therefore, it’s key these changes (and employee licences, as a result) are carefully monitored.

Here’s a list of the recent changes, and reasons why employers should take note:

Motorways

Changes to the UK driving test have been introduced to prepare novice drivers for everyday driving conditions. This includes allowing learner drivers onto motorways. It’s vital that all drivers understand how to use a Smart motorway and follow the rules.

Motorway users, including those driving for business purposes, should be attentive to ‘learner’ marked vehicles. These could pose a heightened risk of accidents or damage to company vehicles. Therefore, drivers should take extra precautions when passing or driving nearby these vehicles. Advising employees to be attentive around learner vehicles, and keep adequate stopping distances, could minimise this risk, along with driver downtime and the associated costs involved, in the event of a collision.

The Driving Test

Part of the driving test involves an independent drive, without instruction from the examiner. This has now increased to 20 minutes, and either involves following traffic signs or using instructions from a Sat Nav.

When it comes to reversing, learners could now also be asked to parallel park or to park in a parking bay. Additionally, the driver has to be able to pull up on the right-hand side of the road, reverse for approximately the length of two cars and re-join the traffic.

These changes have been criticised by driving examiner members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), over safety concerns. It’s key that drivers are vigilant and provide ample space for learners, when out on the road. Again, advising employees to take extra caution when approaching (or passing) a parked learner vehicle could prevent the risk of an accident, injury or damage to company vehicles.

New Motorway Penalties

Highways England have introduced Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) based cameras, to monitor hard shoulders on smart motorways. However, many drivers fail to understand or abide by the rules, which puts other road users at risk.

Drivers who continue to use the lane when there is a red ‘X’ showing now face automatic penalties, including fines and three points on their Driving Licence. Often, drivers leave the manoeuvre from the closed lane to the last minute. Other drivers panic and try to force through into the open lane, fearing the fine and the points.

Both scenarios can pose a significant danger to other road users, and increase the risk of collision. For this reason, employers may wish to advise their drivers to take extra caution when approaching motorway exits or when merging lanes. This could save the stress, hassle, time, money and injuries which could result.

In Conclusion, have Risk Levels Changed?

Employers are responsible for ensuring that their drivers remain entitled to drive. It’s key for them to stay alert for any legislative changes, as these could increase the risk of new endorsements, impacting the validity of drivers in their team.

Using Licence Link to check driving licences on a frequent basis enables employers to keep on top of higher-risk drivers, or any changes to licences. In effect, this prevents the risk of sending out drivers who may have unknowingly attained (or that do not disclose) new endorsements, and the consequences that result.

The key to minimising risk is to stay ahead. Making employees aware of new changes is helpful. However, to be sure that drivers aren’t breaking the law, it’s essential employers regularly check their teams’ licences. Licence Link removes the hassle and time from this task, enabling employers to check drivers on mass, automate their checking routine and receive results fast.

Get in touch to see how your fleet business could benefit.

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