£17k for using your home toilet? Every little helps…

Okay, so Tesco is not paying their delivery drivers £17,000 to use their home toilets, unfortunately.

If they were, well then sign my partner up, because I’m certain he would end up bankrupting the company.

I’m sure all delivery drivers have been there.

You’ve still got a couple of deliveries to go, and you’re suddenly bursting to use the loo.

What do you do when these situations arise?

Especially if you work for Tesco, whose vans have tracker systems fitted.

This means they can check up on you every 5 minutes or so, alongside monitoring your speed and location.

Well, for one Tesco delivery worker, his solution was his home toilet.

Nothing too crude here, thank you.

This week’s tale fuels itself with justice and a hefty £17k package.

Tesco’s Scottish branch awarded Billy Fitzsimmons £17k in compensation after his unfair dismissal.

Due to his ailments, he required to use the toilet far more than your average person.

An employment tribunal ordered Tesco to pay Mr Fitzsimmons for not taking his medical problems into consideration.

His employer penalised him for using his toilet at home, even though he only stopped by between deliveries.

After discovering these stops, his boss learned about his urinary tract infection and enlarged prostate, which required urgent restroom access.

However, Tesco bosses claimed they were not aware that Mr Fitzsimmons also experienced incontinence.

Although they were aware of his other illnesses.

Unfortunately, he’d also had to visit home on some occasions to change. 

After conducting his business at home, Mr Fitzsimmons would wait in his delivery van until he had to drop off groceries to the next client.

Nothing wrong with that, right?

Deliveries were always made in a timely manner, and not a single person ever made a complaint against him.

Discrimination against disability isn’t a joke.

Fortunately for Mr Fitzsimmons, the judges agreed with him.

Hopefully, many of you will not have faced an illness or a situation like this, but I’m sure we can relate to needing the toilet after a long drive.

We wish Mr Fitzsimmons the best, and if he ever requires cheap van insurance for another role, we’re here to help!

By Special Delivery, c/o BA.

Heartwarming news this week, with the tale of the pilot, turned van driver. 

Peter Login, a British Airways pilot found himself at something of a loose end when coronavirus hit, and he was furloughed by BA. Rather than staying home and twiddling his thumbs, instead, Peter, who is from Horsham, East Sussex decided to do something useful. He is now working as a delivery driver for Tesco in nearby Crawley, to help ensure vital supplies get delivered to those most in need, who find themselves self-isolating. 

His quick job switch has been celebrated by many as a sign of the good people out there who refuse to sit around and wait for better days to come, choosing instead to get out there and make a difference. 

Pilots up and down the country have been forced to take a massive 50% pay cut and forced to take unpaid annual leave, but we can only assume Peter has taken on the Tesco role out of the goodness of his heart, rather than for a pressing need for cash. 

He is certainly lifting the spirits of those Sussex residents who are lucky enough to have Peter knocking on their door. He says it’s obvious that some have not seen anyone for a while and he always makes time to have a quick chat from a safe distance before dropping off their supplies and going on his way. 

And, as van drivers, it’s important to acknowledge that this isn’t just Peter, but many of you, who are playing a vital role in the mental wellbeing of those you are delivering too – not just groceries, but other goods and services to places where human interaction may just be a little thin on the ground right now. A cheerful wave can quite literally make somebody’s day right now. So why not make the most of it – let’s face it, this is quite likely one of those times when people have never been happier to see you and knowing that you could make somebody’s day can not just put a smile on their face, but it should put one on yours too. 

Van Drivers of the UK – keep smiling. You’ve got this. 

Step 1

Complete your quick and easy quote

Step 2

Reveal your van insurance policies

Step 3

Pick your favourite and get instant cover