Why do employers need to check driving licences?
When it comes to licence checking, invariably this means knowing precisely who’s driving your vehicles (or their own) for business miles and that they are fully permitted to do so.
Driving licence checks will uncover whether an employee is eligible to drive the type of vehicle they are allocated, and that they hold a current driving licence.
Risks of not checking employee driving licences
The Road Traffic Act 1988 states that, as well as it being an offence for an employee to drive without a valid licence, it is also an offence for you as an employer, to permit your employees to drive without a valid licence.
If found guilty of allowing an ‘unlicenced’ or ‘improperly licenced’ employee to drive on behalf of your company, you could face a fine of up to £1000. There is also the potential that you could face prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
How do I check employee driving licences?
It used to be that you could ask your employee to show you their card driver’s licence and associated counterpart. This would confirm that they have a valid licence; what vehicles they were licenced to drive and whether they had any endorsements on their licence.
The system has now changed, and individuals are no longer issued with a counterpart to their licence. Instead, you need to check all of these details online, against the DVLA database.
In order to carry out these licence checks, the process is as follows:
- Employee’s need to create a licence ‘check code’ using their driving licence number and NI number. This can be done via this link: https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence
- The employee then passes this code to you along with their driving licence. You can then use the link below to check their driving licence information. This can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/check-driving-information
How regularly should I check an employee’s driving licence?
There are no specific timescales within the law, however, best practice would be at least once per year, (increasing for those employees with more points on their licence). We would recommend that you keep a database of your checks.
If you require any further assistance on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0161 476 8276 or email [email protected]