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Electric Car charging points...

Anna Morris

Hi All,

This week one of our employees came to work and plugged her electric car in (via a wire through a window into our reception area). 

The CEO contacted me (having seen the wire when she arrived) to ask me what our obligations are in this regard. I told her none, we are no more obliged to charge an employee's car than we are to provide a petrol pump. However, we are a technology business and we are very keen to attract (and retain) 'Millennial's', so it has made my mind focus towards what we should consider in the future.

While we only currently have one employee with an electric car, I am conscious this is likely to increase fairly quickly over time.

We don't have proper charging points on-site and it is not practical (or safe) to have wires draped through windows.

I'm interested to know what other SME's are doing about this (if anything) and whether the wider Community believes this will soon become a deciding factor when employees are job hunting.

I would be particularly keen to have a chat with someone who has invested in charging points to hear their experiences.

I can honestly say this hadn't actually crossed my mind until this week....every day's a school day in HR!

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Parents
  • Hi Anna

    Regarding electric cars and charging, I can't advise as my current employer doesn't offer anything - though I've visited a couple of businesses recently that have charging points on-site, which I thought was a nice touch.

    The thing that stood out for me about your post though, was the employee just doing this. It feels like quite a dangerous thing ('wires draped through windows') for her to have done - did she any permission from anyone, or consider the risks to herself and her colleagues? Or did she just do it because she needed to? I'd think the business should find that out, and take appropriate action - not because you aren't supportive of charging electric cars, but because using company property for personal use should be approved by *someone* in the company.
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  • Hi Anna

    Regarding electric cars and charging, I can't advise as my current employer doesn't offer anything - though I've visited a couple of businesses recently that have charging points on-site, which I thought was a nice touch.

    The thing that stood out for me about your post though, was the employee just doing this. It feels like quite a dangerous thing ('wires draped through windows') for her to have done - did she any permission from anyone, or consider the risks to herself and her colleagues? Or did she just do it because she needed to? I'd think the business should find that out, and take appropriate action - not because you aren't supportive of charging electric cars, but because using company property for personal use should be approved by *someone* in the company.
Children
  • in reply to Owen
    Absolutely agree. Don't worry, we dealt with it immediately with the employee as it ocurred....we certainly wont be having wires hanging out of windows!
  • in reply to Anna Morris
    Having gone past the immediate 'too much initiative' problem I would be looking to how they can do it safely with a proper charging facility, not least because they are unlikely to be the last
  • in reply to Anna Morris
    I recall once having a bit of an argument with a colleague who had for many years been a prominent local Employment Exchange / Jobcentre Manager. In that capacity, he said he always prohibited his staff from charging their mobile phones from the office power supply, this amounting in his view in effect to theft of Government electricity. He did not appreciate at all my mirth at hearing this, nor my comments that it seemed totally petty / not worth bothering about, as the volume of electricity involved was very tiny indeed and they’d need to have their mobile on charge 24 hours a day for weeks or months or even years before the value of the electricity abstracted ever reached more than a few pence.

    Charging up an electric car’s batteries is obviously on a vaster scale than this, but the principles still apply. Along of course with employers duty of care to maintain workplace safety by not (within proportion / reason!!) permitting employees to connect their own mains electrical devices.