Driving licence requirement clause

Insert this clause into the contracts of employment of those staff who are required to drive as part of their job duties. If the employee should later lose their licence, a dismissal may be possible but this will depend on all the circumstances of the particular case.

Conditional offer

Certain job roles will require the job holder to be able to drive vehicles. This may be only a small part of their duties or it may be their main job duty. Either way, if being able to drive is essential, you need to make the job offer conditional on production of a current, valid UK driving licence for inspection - and then check this regularly, particularly on its expiry date because UK photocard driving licences generally have to be renewed every ten years.

Contractual provision

As well as making the job offer conditional, it’s also advisable to add a driving licence clause to the employee’s contract of employment, so it’s clear that holding a current UK driving licence is a condition of continuing employment. Our Driving Licence Requirement Clause not only confirms this and that you reserve the right to terminate employment in the event of the employee losing their driving licence, but it also makes it a requirement that the employee immediately report to you any fixed penalty notices or licence endorsements (this could affect insurance premiums) or any court order disqualifying them from driving. Finally, they must report any other event which results in their being ineligible to drive. This would encompass medical reasons.

A fair dismissal?

Statutory bar is a potentially fair reason for dismissal under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and that occurs when it becomes illegal to continue to employ a particular employee in a particular job role - in this case, the dismissal of a driver on account of losing their licence. It’s also necessary for you to show that you acted reasonably in all the circumstances before deciding to dismiss and this will usually require consideration of the extent to which the driving ban affects the employee’s ability to do their job, the length of the ban and whether there are alternative jobs that the employee may be able to do in the business, either temporarily or permanently. It also involves going through a fair procedure, including consultation with the employee. Our clause sets out that a meeting will be held in these circumstances. Don’t assume you can automatically dismiss someone just because they’ve lost their driving licence. Firstly, if the driving ban interferes with only a small amount of the employee’s job duties, it’s probably reasonable for you to try to reallocate those particular duties elsewhere in the business until the ban has ended. Secondly, if the ban is only for a few weeks, even if they’re employed as a driver, it’s probably reasonable to either provide temporary non-driving duties or agree with the employee for them to take annual leave or unpaid leave until they can resume normal duties. Thirdly, if the reason for the loss of licence is health related and this constitutes a disability, you’re under a duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 to work provisions, criteria or practices to ensure that the disabled employee isn’t placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled employees.