Driving for work policy

Driving is the most dangerous thing most employees do for their employer, and the health and safety duties apply to it as to any other work activity: the risk has to be assessed, licences and insurance checked, vehicles maintained, journeys planned so that drivers are not fatigued, and mobile phones kept out of drivers' hands. The policy has to cover company vehicles and employees' own cars, allocate fines and damage within the deductions law, and produce the records that show the employer managed the risk. I draft the policy for the employer as part of the handbook and core policies for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Employers in England and Wales whose staff drive for work in company vehicles or their own, from a sales team with company cars to a trade with vans to an office whose staff drive to client meetings.

What matters in a driving for work policy

The employer's duty for driving as work

The duties under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the risk assessment required by regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 apply to driving in the course of work, including in the employee's own vehicle, and the Health and Safety Executive expects employers to assess the risks of the driver, the vehicle and the journey and to manage them; the policy should state that driving for work is a work activity governed by the employer's safety management, the roles it applies to, and the employee's own duty under section 7 of the Act to take reasonable care, which the commute to the normal place of work falls outside.

Licence, insurance and vehicle checks

The policy should require every employee who drives for work to hold a valid licence for the vehicle, to produce it for checking at stated intervals (with consent to DVLA checks), to report points, convictions, disqualifications and medical conditions affecting driving, and, for employees using their own vehicles, to hold insurance covering business use under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a current MOT and tax, and to maintain the vehicle; the employer should check and record each, because an employee driving uninsured on the employer's business is the employer's problem as well as the employee's.

Company vehicles, pool cars and the employee's own car

The policy should set the rules for company vehicles (allocation, private use, the policy's conditions, daily checks, defect reporting, servicing, cleanliness, the return of the vehicle), for pool cars (booking, checks before and after use, keys and fuel), and for the employee's own car (the grey fleet: the checks above, mileage at the approved rate under section 229 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, the employer's right to refuse the use of an unsuitable vehicle); the policy should also say that the employer may require a vehicle check before any journey and may prohibit driving where the vehicle is unsafe.

Journey planning, fatigue and mobile phones

The policy should require journeys to be planned with realistic timings, breaks at stated intervals, limits on driving hours in a day and after a working day (with the drivers' hours rules under the Transport Act 1968 for goods vehicles where they apply), no driving when tired, ill or impaired, and the use of alternatives (rail, overnight stays, video meetings) for long journeys; it should prohibit the use of a hand-held mobile phone while driving (an offence under regulation 110 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986), restrict hands-free use, and say that managers must not expect drivers to take calls while driving, because a manager who phones a driver is the policy's commonest breach.

Accidents, fines, damage and what the employee pays

The policy should set the accident procedure (safety first, the exchange of details, the report to the employer and the insurer within a stated time, the collection of evidence, no admission of liability), the reporting of incidents under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 where they apply, the treatment of fines and penalties (the employee's, with the employer identifying the driver as the law requires), and the recovery of damage caused by the employee's negligence only with the written consent section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires, limited to a stated excess and never below the minimum wage; the policy should not make the employee the insurer of the vehicle.

Training, monitoring and the records that show the policy works

The policy should state the driver training the employer provides (induction, assessments for high-mileage drivers, refresher training after incidents), the monitoring the employer operates (telematics, dashcams, fuel cards) with the privacy notice under the UK GDPR and the purposes stated, the review of accident and incident data, and the records the employer keeps (licence checks, insurance, training, vehicle checks, incidents), which are what the regulator or a court examines after a serious accident; a policy with no records is a policy the employer cannot prove it applied.

What it costs

Staff handbook and core policies, £995. Five working days.

Employment contract, £595. One template you can reuse for a grade of staff. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the employment contracts and handbooks page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how you employ people
• Restrictive covenants drafted at a scope a court will uphold
• Confidentiality and intellectual property provisions that put ownership where it belongs
• The statutory particulars, so the document does the job section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires it to do
• Flexibility clauses where you genuinely need them, drafted to survive challenge
• Core policies: disciplinary, grievance, sickness absence, equal opportunities, data protection and, increasingly, AI use
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Acting for employees
• Employment tribunal representation
• Payroll, pensions auto-enrolment and tax
• Immigration and sponsor licence work
• Day to day HR handling, disciplinaries, grievances and redundancy processes

Questions I am often asked

Do the safety duties apply when an employee drives their own car to a meeting?

They do. Driving for work is a work activity whatever the vehicle, and the employer should check the licence, business insurance and the vehicle's condition. The commute to the normal place of work falls outside.

Can we deduct the cost of a crash from the driver's pay?

For damage caused by the driver's negligence, with written consent, limited to a stated excess and never below the minimum wage. The policy sets the excess; the employee is not the vehicle's insurer.

Can managers call drivers while they are driving?

The policy says not: hand-held use is an offence, hands-free is restricted, and managers must not expect drivers to take calls. The commonest breach is the manager, not the driver.

Related guidance and services

• Employment contracts and handbooks, £995, the service this page describes
• Consultancy and contractor agreements, £595
• Employment contract for a driver
• Employment contract with a company car

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.