Company vehicle use

[jarrodb1970]

Company vehicle use and insurance

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

When I was hired 2 years ago, I was given a company vehicle as part of my salary and compensation package. The vehicle was to ve used for driving back and forth from work to home and other work related travel. Also, I was guaranteed that my cost for a family insurance package would not be over $140. After the hire, my family insurance came to $400+ per month. When I brought this to the attention of hte Board of Directors who hired me, the reply was to find a better carrier if I wanted cheaper rates. After 2 years of employment, the Board of Directors said that since the company was not operating as they thought it should, they were taking away my company vehicle immediately, and I would need to find an alternate method of getting home that day. Can they do either of these things? My corporate attorney will not discuss these things with me since he says he will have to represent the company first.

 

[cbg]

Unless you have a bona fide, genuine, honest to goodness, enforceable contract that says otherwise, they can do either or both of these things. Neither a company vehicle or flat-rate health insurance (or, for that matter, health insurance at all) is a mandated right.

 

[jarrodb1970]

I have an agreement which was not signed but was voted upon by the board of directors. The vote was recorded at 5 for and 0 against. The document and the voting record were entered into the minutes of the meeting.

 

[Beth3]

A resolution by the board to provide you with these benefits does not result in a "forever" committment. For example, I expect they also resolved to pay you a specific salary when they hired you. Using your argument, then that would mean that they could never give you a pay raise.

If the company feels it can no longer afford to provide you with a company car, they almost certainly can take it away. (Taking the car with no advance notice stinks however.)

As to the group health cost, you *might* have a legal argument to make there. You willl need to discuss that with an attorney. Your OWN attorney, not corporate counsel. He was exactly right in telling you he cannot advise you - it would be a major ethics violation and conflict of interest for him.

 

[jarrodb1970]

The board included guidelines for raises in the document. I relocated from Kentucky. All of my licenses were non-transferrable. The board included in the document, a statement laying out a $1,000 for each level of licensing I received after the first calendar year. I received 3 licenses this calendar year, for which I was not given a raise. The Board laid out in the document that raises would be administered to all employees in years the compnany was profitable.

 

[cbg]

You still have not posted anything that would make their withdrawal of a company vehicle illegal. And I'm by no means convinced that you have a case regarding the health insurance; it will, however, depend on the EXACT wording of any WRITTEN promises.

A document that refers to raises and licensing has nothing whatsoever to do with company vehicles and car insurance.

A guideline is exactly that - a guideline, not a guarantee.

You are free to take whatever WRITTEN documentation you have to your own lawyer for review - as has already been explained, the corporate attorney is quite right in refusing to advise you as that would represent a conflict of interest. Only someone who has seen the documents themselves can give you a definite answer.