question about drivers being held responsible for damages

[QUOTE="Hang - Man";4185527]I know it's coming, who is going to be the first to say "he should sign it because he is a professional and yada yada yada be responsible for the damage and yada yada yada Dont damage anything and yada yada yada and i have been driving for a hundred years and i never yada yada yada.[/QUOTE]

Those same drivers will be on here in 6 months starting a "had a couple accidents, my last company screwed me, will swift hire me?" thread...

 

"Yeah, I did a bit of damage over the years, but didn't have to pay for it."


How 'bout that? You were probably a good employee and they didn't want to lose you. Just because a company maintains an option doesn't mean it has to exercise it. Also, it could be part of a pre-employment test: Maybe that company is looking for some "stand-up" kind of people who accept responsibility for their actions rather than a crew full of "Obamas". (Not my fault, man! I didn't do nuffin!)

"I do believe they would use it, if they had an employee they felt was deliberately damaging stuff, or one they wanted to get rid of."

Duh! And you would expect it to be otherwise? Companies can't afford to keep employees like that, for a myriad of reasons.

 

When I busted the bumper on my truck, I was charged $100 for the body work and replacement foglamp.

 

I think we can take this one step farther. At what point does an employee of any kind, become responsible for damage. Employee's don't generally come into work thinking, today I'm going to ruin something. I've always felt it's the companies obligation to cover for their employees, and if it becomes a regular problem, at that time action can be taken. Employees aren't business owner's, that's why they are employees. When I was a company driver, I had several mishaps, nothing serious, bent bumper, broken mirror, damaged product, but never once was asked to pay for it. The boss knew, we aren't perfect, and problems will happen. When I became an O/O, that was different story, as any damage came out of my pocket, but we can't expect employees to act like business owners. After all, without employees, a business can't succeed, and an occasional problem is part of doing business.

 

If an employee shares the costs of business he should rightfully share in the profits.

DO NOT SIGN unless company gives him a raise or profit sharing in return.

 

Having your boss rip you a new one for wrecking something makes you feel almost as bad as paying for it...that is pretty much our company's policy.