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We have allocated couple of parking spots at company's building, their count is about 40% of employee count. We organized ourselves into groups of 2-3 employees sharing each parking place and we co-ordinate our daily parking withing these small groups. (Occasionally also between these groups.) This works fine.

I have reasons why I am using a car only when really needed (5 times a year, 2% of overall business days) so the other colleagues sharing the spot with me have a benefit of great availability.

Since I am eligible for sharing (6 months by now), I didn't request parking so far (and as indicated I don't intend to use it until it's really needed, few times a year).

For those days (the 2%), if I really need to come and park, I personally expect my request for parking to have priority over the requests of my other 2 colleagues (who use the spot 98% of time).

Is the above justified? And most importantly; how can I ensure I get the parking spot for that 2% of days I really need it?

(The question was edited for higher clarity by Leon who posted the answer and submitted to reopen queue by me. Not sure why it was collecting downvotes, no one has left an explanation.)

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    Depends on your relationship with your colleagues. You would expect some kind of service, but alas the real world doesn't always work that way. Only way you'd know, is to speak to the colleagues you share with. We can't tell you how they'd react and any other policy affecting parking would be company based
    – Draken
    Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 9:11
  • You made an agreement with others and you're wondering if it's ethical to expect others to stick to it? Or you want to know if it's fine to make an agreement which heavily favours others i.t.o availability? Of course it is, why wouldn't it be? Or didn't you explicitly agree to days and you're wondering if it's ethical to expect to get the spot without prior agreement or on short notice?
    – Bernhard Barker
    Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 9:11
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    These five times a year, do you know what they'll be in advance? Are you able at least to let your colleagues know ahead of time of when you need the space?
    – user34587
    Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 9:15
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    It's a reasonable request, but it's also a retroactive request since I assume that you didn't have a car since March. And some people do not like to give up things retroactively. In any case, you should ask and see what they say. Hopefully, they're reasonable.
    – Stephan Branczyk
    Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 9:20
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    @StephanBranczyk – I do have a car, but I keep it in the garage all the time.
    – miroxlav
    Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 9:22

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Yes, it is.

You give up your parking rights for the vast majority of time even though you technically have 1/3rd "ownership" of the slot as well. As such they benefit greatly and having priority over them for the very few times per year you need to use it should be the norm.

How to get there without alienating anyone:

  • First establish in a friendly casual(non-demanding) chat that as they have noticed you rarely if ever use your car, and thus you ll be giving your allotted parking time to them for most of the time. Mention that as such you would appreciate the courtesy of having priority for the, indeed few, times you need it.
  • Inform them beforehand, if possible from the day before, you ll be needing the parking slot for the coming day if there's no objections by them.

Its all about keeping matters civilized and polite so that you can co-exist and all get the best they can(you get your 2% almost all the time, they get their 98% uninterrupted).

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  • Thank you very much, your answer helped me the way I expected. I am not sure what can I do to improve the question because it seems to be collecting downvotes and close votes for low clarity without explanation left in comments. But your answer to such a low-quality question seems to be valued. Do you have any idea what can I improve? (Or edit the question directly.) Maybe I am overlooking something important.
    – miroxlav
    Commented Aug 26, 2017 at 21:24
  • @miroxlav glad I helped, I proposed an edit for clarification right now. Hope this gets you some more answers or ideas if someone thinks of the matter differently than I do!
    – Leon
    Commented Aug 28, 2017 at 7:11

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