Travelling long distances and reasonable time off

[Homebrewer]

Hi everyone,
I’ve got a bit of a conundrum regarding working and travelling.
I’m on an FTC for three months so classed as an employee but my place of work is 235 miles away and my contract states that mileage will be paid at 45p per mile plus hotels up to a fixed rate for work Monday to Thursday.
when I signed the contract my first working day started at 10am, which I thought was reasonable. After a few weeks however my line manager asked me to be available for a team meeting at 9am. I took this remotely initially, parking up on my way there. But then I wasn’t getting I until 10.30/11am and comments were made.
I also suggested to here that leaving around 3pm travel home was fair so I’m home at a reasonable time and the following week she put in a meeting for 3-3.30.
it was then suggested that I travel down on a Sunday to be on site for the Monday morning meeting which I reluctantly agreed to, but now she has put in a meeting for 4-4.30 to prevent me from travelling home early at the end of the week. This means I won’t realistically be home before 9pm which I don’t think is acceptable. However when we have had a busy day I’ve stayed once until 6pm to get the job done - because walking out when everyone is buried is not really an option.
I also volunteered to attend meetings on my non-working day (Friday) just to fit in with everyone else who works a 5 day week.
The truly bizarre thing is I’m not actually that busy, I’m constantly offering to help others to fill my day but my line manager is super busy but doesn’t seem able to delegate tasks out.
Morally I think they are being horrendous now but I need to know where I stand legally here. In previous roles I’ve always classed long journeys as half my time and half the companies which I feel is fair but they’re not giving me a chance here.
Thanks in advance.

[ULA]

I may need to see a redacted from personal information a copy of the relevant part of your contract. However lets try to do this via some questions:

1. What is your stated location of work, home or the location 235 miles away?
2. What are your contractual hours of work?
3. When you say your "contract states that mileage will be paid at 45p per mile plus hotels up to a fixed rate for work Monday to Thursday." Is this set out for business travel to locations other than the one 235 miles away? Or does it state that this is from travel to and from the location 235 miles away.

What I am trying to establish is where is your contractual place of work and the hours you are expected to work from this location.

Many thanks.

[Homebrewer]

Hi ULA,
The stated place of work is 235 miles away from my home. The company does operate other sites but they are within 15 or so miles of this office, and I am contractually obliged to work out of other sites as required - but this has not yet happened.
There is nothing in the contract to stipulate the hours of work as I am paid on a day rate - so I am following normal office hours which are 8.30 to 5.30. Previously I have worked as an interim through my own limited company but I’m now doing FTCs after IR35 kicked in. As an interim I have generally verbally agreed reasonable late starts/early finishes to allow for travel time but I’ve never been put in a situation where meetings are set which makes this impossible - especially after having had this discussion with my line manager previously and she had no objections. It’s amusing though that the chef said she would start messing me around and she has.
Travel does not specify any locations, it just states 45p per mile will be paid.

[ULA]

Many thanks for the response to my questions.

Unfortunately being an employee is very different to providing services through your own limited company.

As an employee, even on an FTC, if your place of work is the location stated 235 miles away (or you are asked to work in another location under your contractual terms) then that is where you need to work from during the normal business hours. Travel to and from your contractual location is not typically included as part of "normal business hours" unless the employer has specifically stated in your FTC that travel time between home and work counts as working time.

If they are paying you travel to and from your contractually stated place of work then the company will need to declare this to HMRC in a P11D return and it will be treated as a taxable benefit to you - just in case you are unaware of this.

Those are my thoughts based on the information you have provided without seeing the contract.

[Homebrewer]

Thanks for your input.
The contract is remarkably vague, half a page and mostly copied from a perm contract with regard to holiday, pension etc which don’t kick in until after 12 weeks - which I most certainly won’t be doing.
To be honest, I was expecting more protection being an employee. In previous jobs companies had rules on travelling, including bans on travel before 6am and after 8pm for work (unless unavoidable). They would advise travel the day before/after which would allow you to claim back half a day in lieu to cover travelling time.
To be honest I’m livid as to how this has turned, the initial job offer involved is one week working at home then one week on site after initial training but this has always been rejected.
I still need think it’s completely unreasonable to expect me to travel down on a Sunday and not get home till very late on a Thursday - if not legally then certainly morally. Especially when I’m twiddling my thumbs for about a 1/4 of every day because there isn’t enough work to keep us all busy.

[ULA]

It does sound like they have not thought through the terms of the FTC before offering it to you, particularly given your distance from your location of work.