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Traffic warden quotas exposed

Traffic warden wins case after refusing to meet 10-a-day ticket quota

Traffic warden quotas exposed

By Julie Sinclair

26th January 2012

A traffic warden who refused to comply with a 10-a-day parking ticket quota has today won his unfair dismissal case at an employment tribunal in London.

Judge Jeremy Burns ruled that Hakim Berkani, 45, had been unfairly dismissed from his job in Kensington and Chelsea after opposing a secret quota put in place by employer and parking enforcement firm NSL, which forced wardens to issue at least 10 tickets a day.

He claimed he was harassed and eventually dismissed by NSL because he preferred to warn motorists when they were parked illegally, rather than automatically issuing a ticket.

Berkani told Auto Express that he was “very happy” with the verdict, which he said was “in the best interests of the public”. He explained that he had supplied internal E-mails to the tribunal that revealed wardens had to issue an "absolute minimum" of 10 tickets daily – a practice which NSL still denies.

The warden, a father of two from Wandsworth, south London, who was sacked for gross misconduct, told us: “The firm’s denial is amazing. I am astonished that they would still deny this, when the evidence is there in black and white for everyone to see – including the judge at the tribunal.”

He added that his fellow wardens were reluctant to come forward. “They are scared. They don’t want to lose their jobs,” he said.

Damages are to be decided at a separate hearing on 27 February but, in the meantime, Berkani says he wants his job back.

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4 Comments

AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good on you Hakim,hope you get LOADS OF DOSH !!!!
and your job back.

By geoffthered on 26 January, 2012, 8:55pm

?

A confusing story, as it suggests he was sacked for not issuing 10 tickets a day. But it went to court with the company defending their decision to sack him, and their decision must obviously have nothing to do with the 10 tickets as they claim to have no such policy, so the reason they gave to court must be totally different misconduct which has not been mentioned here. Which they lost but we don't know why. The evidence of the 10 tickets a-day emails seems irrelevant to the case as far as i see it. It just appears there were no fair reasons for his dismissal...

Also the story does not say that having a policy for 10-a-day is wrong or illegal in the UK. Sounds like a business plan more than anything, why would it be secret other than for publicity purposes not because it's against the law? I don't know you tell us..


By beachland on 27 January, 2012, 2:24am

Not the first

This happened locally to me. A "parking enforcement officer" for the local council took them to tribunal after he was sacked for allegedly not issuing enough tickets.

When you hear of tales of people being ticketed when they have paid and displayed correctly, not outstayed their time, parked within the lines etc etc, you have to suspect that quotas are in play.

After all, the targets are not for how many tickets are *challenged* but how many are *issued*.

God knows how many poor folk just pay up when they've done nothing wrong.

Clearly parking enforcement is expected to make money, rather than simply being a deterrent.

By Oilburner on 27 January, 2012, 10:49am

@beachland

Hi @beachland - thanks for your comment.

Apologies for any confusion. NSL said Hakim Berkani was sacked for gross misconduct, after tipping off a driver who was about to be given a ticket by another warden. But Hakim Berkani used his case to highlight the quota issue, saying wardens who failed to hit the targets were disciplined. The tribunal judge, Jeremy Burns, said his "opposition to the respondent's clandestine quote system" could not "justify dismissal".

The quota isn't illegal in itself - we think the issue is more to do with a lack of transparency. If the quota exists, we should know about it.

Thanks,
Auto Express

By Rhian on 27 January, 2012, 12:30pm

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