Dealing with non-UK employees who drive
Whilst I was at a recent meeting we had a discussion about how to deal with drivers who hold a non-UK driving licence and more particularly drivers from within the European Union.
Managing your ‘duty of care’ can be tricky with European drivers as it is illegal to discriminate against them by having different rules for non-UK employees. Just because a licence is written in a different language does not mean you cannot accept its validity. But you will need to consider driving licences as part of your management process to avoid prosecution under Corporate Manslaughter Legislation.
However if you have employees from outside the European Union then the rules are different as for most of those employees they can only drive in the UK for a period of 12 months from date of entry into the UK. This does include the USA, so if you are employing people from the USA and they are driving and they are here for more than 12 months then they will need to take and pass a UK driving test if they wish to continue driving in the UK.
If drivers with a European driving licence need to undertake any testing for either a Taxi licence or to allow them to tow trailers then they will need to have a paper counterpart issued by the DVLA.
This is a very simplistic explanation and individual cases can vary, but if you need any specific advice then you can call the team on 01623 675833.
Nigel Grainger
Senior Consultant
Fleet Risk Consultants