Tag: compliance

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.

Driving licence checking tools help businesses save hours.

Driving licence checking doesn’t have to be a headache

5th October 2021 No Comments Features

Handling driving licence checking can be a chore, taking up valuable time from HR and Fleet Managers. Businesses that manage driver checks manually waste a significant amount of time (and subsequently, money). That’s where Licence Link comes in! HR teams can manage hundreds of drivers at once, with results returned in real-time. It’s a no brainer.

Licence Link makes it easy for employers to keep track of every driver in the business. The system is intuitive and has a range of useful tools to help businesses in every sector comply. Alongside Driver, CPC and Tacho checking, Licence Link includes features to help with:

Managing Driver Transfers

Businesses with employees that work (or transfer) between branches can manage their teams seamlessly in Licence Link.

There’s no need to delete or recreate drivers. Records are accessible across all branches, to provide total visibility. This saves on cost and admin time.

Licence Link sends each driver a digital approval. Once signed, any branch can run a licence check on the driver for the next three years. This is simple to set up within the systems permissions.

This is explained by Leigh Lafever-Ayer, AVP HR UK and Ireland at Enterprise-Rent-a-Car:

“With digital approvals and instant real-time checks, new drivers can be on the road in minutes, rather than days. Enterprise Rent-A-Car has peace of mind knowing that we are managing our Duty of Care responsibilities with Licence Link.”

Handling Associated Drivers

If employees share their company car with a partner or spouse, the business is responsible for checking both drivers’ records.

Any endorsements could potentially invalidate the business’s insurance policy. With Licence Link, employers can track both records as one, seamlessly. The system automatically deletes any associated drivers, if the employee leaves, to comply with GDPR.

Licence Link removes the time involved when processing and maintaining associated drivers. This includes regaining approval, as both employee and partner can be prompted at once, plus automating the checking routine. Here, both employees and partners can be automatically checked on a recurring basis – based on the risk they pose.

For example, drivers with 6+ points who pose a high risk can be checked bi-annually, and lower-risk drivers annually. Once set up, Licence Link automates the entire process, with minimal human intervention required.

For fleets with potentially hundreds of drivers, Licence Link reduces the risk and time involved significantly.

Insufficient Credit Alerts

In Licence Link, users can order credits upfront to pay for their driving licence checking needs, on mass. The system notifies users when these are running short, allowing the business to re-order. This prevents the risk of missed checks and saves hours of inputting details for each individual driver.

In comparison, managing licence checks manually is slower, less secure and runs the risk of human error.

Frequency Groups

Licence Link is completely adaptable to the business needs. Users can categorise employees – such as by risk, or vehicle category. This makes it easy to filter the built-in reports in the system, or when scheduling checks, saving hours of unnecessary admin.

Users can simply set up automated alerts and schedule checks in advance, based on how frequently they wish to check each category. This eliminates the risk of missed checks (and unidentified endorsements), along with the hefty fines which would result.

Businesses managing this process manually must keep their own record of all driver checks – an arduous task. They refer to spreadsheets and paperwork to calculate how often each driver needs to be checked, then must remember to do so.

“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 definitely is a benefit with over 460 locations and over 4,000 drivers nationwide.” – explains Lafever-Ayer at Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

Built-in Reports 

Licence Link’s reporting suite provides access to historic checks in just moments. It’s easy to manage drivers, with access to real-time results, customisable reports, and automated scheduling. These factors remove hours of hassle, associated with manually managing driver checks.

How Can Businesses Seriously Save?

The benefits of Licence Link’s driving licence checking services are substantial. Businesses can easily meet their Duty of Care requirements, whilst avoiding the costly consequences of non-compliance. HR Managers can focus on adding value in their role, rather than co-ordinating hundreds of drivers, separately. The tools and reports they need are available at their fingertips in a matter of clicks.

See how Licence Link can benefit your fleet business today.

Discover time-saving features in Licence Link

Free checks or false economy? Weigh up what’s best for your fleet

7th June 2021 No Comments Benefits

Driver compliance is critical and failure to check licences can result in hefty fines for employers. According to Licence Link, buying checks from a certified provider, rather than using the free GOV.UK online service has substantial benefits – especially for busy HR teams managing several employees. Both services access driver details from the DVLA, then return these results, but what’s the difference from an employers’ view?

With the free GOV.UK checking service, employees manually apply online – they’re sent a one-time code valid for 21 days, allowing their employer to view their licence details. This relies on all drivers returning a code and the HR team following it up, which isn’t easy to track, especially for potentially hundreds of drivers. Licence Link makes it easier to manage, explains Andy Bealing, Fleet Manager, Exeter City Council:

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

For a small fee, the pressure is taken off both the business and employee. With Licence Link’s automated service, drivers can sign their consent digitally in a matter of seconds, staying valid for 3 years. It saves hours of admin time – which can end up costing significantly more than a few pounds for a check. Unlike the GOV.UK checks, Licence Link provides a full audit trail, including any past checks.

Employers can schedule routine checks as frequently as they like in Licence Link, with results returned in real-time. Again, this isn’t possible with the GOV.UK service. This makes it simple to keep watch of any new endorsements, which without attention could result in severe consequences – from invalidated insurance to driver downtime to breaking the law. Nicola Bradshaw at Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council explains:

“The reports in Licence Link are very useful, keeping us on top of driver risk. They save us time, providing all the relevant information we need to fulfil our roles successfully and efficiently.”

Ultimately, for any sizeable fleet there are stand-out benefits of using a provider like Licence Link – saving time, relieving pressure, and gaining a trackable record. Free checks are (on the surface) cheaper, but when managing more than a handful of drivers, the process can quickly become more time consuming and costly on a check-by-check basis. It’s essential to weigh up the cost to check versus the time taken by your HR team to manage the process.

Contactless licence checking

Contactless licence checks prevent COVID spread

6th October 2020 No Comments COVID-19, Features

As COVID-19 restrictions tighten, businesses are being urged to further implement precautionary measures, minimising risk in the workplace. Licence Link provides a contactless driver licence checking service, enabling Fleet Managers/ HR to safely check drivers’ records for penalties or disqualifications, removing the need to handle any paperwork which could potentially carry the virus. Licence Link can also be used to check CPC and digital tachograph cards, all in line with DVLA standards.

“It’s easy, an electronic declaration can be sent straight to the driver to digitally sign and approve their licence check. There’s no need for a physical signature, avoiding any unnecessary interaction. Since GDPR was introduced, it’s vital to get approval to look up a licence with the DVLA and we wanted to make sure that Licence Link does all of the hard work for you.” Says Melvin Jeffers, Sales & Customer Relations Leader for Licence Link.

Upon gaining approval, Licence Link returns the drivers’ record to the Fleet Manager in real-time, providing a fast and effective digital response. By switching to paperless permission, the entire process is quicker than ever before, so drivers can get out on the road with minimal disruption, whilst Fleet Managers/ HR can ensure drivers are compliant.

Licence Link user Andy Bealing, Fleet Manager at Exeter City Council explains how adopting a digital process has been essential during lockdown:

“Here at Exeter City Council, we have a large fleet of drivers that have been working throughout the COVID crisis, including Civil Enforcement Officers who’ve been delivering welfare packages to the vulnerable in our community. Thanks to Licence Link, we can keep on top of all driver licences, CPC and Digital Tachograph Cards. Their digital checking service allows us to provide a safe and efficient service to our community, making sure we are compliant with the DVLA at all times. Licence Link has removed a number of administrative duties which has allowed more time for other tasks to be carried out.”

Licence Link are an ADLV member (Association for Driving Licence Verification), and all data is held securely and compliant with the strictest ISO 27001 guidelines which constantly protects businesses and their drivers.

With restrictions only likely to heighten and the festive season likely to see increased demand for deliveries, now is the ideal time for businesses to prepare, ensuring their drivers are compliant and ready to go with Licence Link!

Digital Approvals

Streamline Driver Checks with Digital Approvals

27th February 2019 No Comments Features

It’s down to the employer to ensure every driver is safe and qualified to be out on the road – a lengthy process if handled manually. Licence Link cuts the time and administration out of the process – saving hours for HR teams.

To check a driving licence with the DVLA, the holder must give their approval. Fleets employing tens, or hundreds of drivers face the daunting task of gaining every driver’s consent, in order to comply with the law. Not only must they do this, but they require renewal every 3 years since the introduction of GDPR.

Digital Approvals:

In order to simplify this potentially mammoth task, Licence Link has digitalised the approvals process. Now, the HR team can electronically request drivers permission by sending a digital form, straight from Licence Link. It takes just moments for the driver to review, approve, and return the form – which they can do so straight from their phone, streamlining the process.

This alleviates the need for paper mandates, reduces the delay for a response, and has removed a serious amount of admin from the task, freeing up time for HR staff to focus elsewhere.

Once approval has been acquired, this lasts for 3 years. Licence Link enables employers to schedule frequent, automatic checks on drivers during this period to identify any new endorsements, penalty points or exclusions. Ultimately, identifying these in advance reduces the likelihood of getting caught out – which could result in the invalidation of insurance policies, fines or damage to the company’s reputation.

With serious consequences resulting from non-compliance, the digital approvals process in Licence Link has taken the pressure off of HR teams. It offers a fast, reliable and simple solution to help maintain their duty of care responsibilities and ensure compliance.

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