News update – GSK points the way

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has refreshed its structured employee car ownership plan (Ecop) to ensure individual drivers are punished for dangerous driving rather than the whole fleet.

Insurance for drivers is now based on an individual employee’s driving record and not on the records of all drivers added together. This ensures good drivers pay less than those with points on their licences or speeding fines.

The drugs company has introduced the risk management package to make sure its Ecop drivers are covered under the firm’s health and safety policy.

In recent months Ecops have been accused of allowing organisations to skip their health and safety responsibilities and this scheme goes a long way to address the problem for GSK.

The new package will help GSK ensure employees’ driving licences are adequately checked and personal accident histories and speeding records are monitored.

Harsha Modha, benefit programmes manager at GSK, said that because financing is provided directly to staff in an Ecop it wanted to make sure they were aware of the importance of maintenance and accidents.

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The company, which previously had three car suppliers, has whittled down its number of fleet providers to one, Interleasing, to reduce the administration of the plan, which is open to around 5,000 employees.

It has also decided to move administration of the Ecop into the remit of the HR department to promote it as a perk to staff rather than just a method of transportation. Modha said that the diversity of its large workforce helped the company make this decision.