Over half of UK workers are not given support from their employers in order to ease commuting stress as the average UK workday increases to 11 hours when factoring in commuting hours.
New research from Moneybarn, a specialist vehicle finance provider, reveals that 57 per cent of UK workers stated that they do not receive assistance from their employer to ease the stress levels caused by commuting.
When analysing the level of support given, just over one-fifth (21 per cent) of employees were given access to flexible working, 13 per cent were given permission to work from home, 11 per cent were supported through season ticket loans whilst 6 per cent were offered car-sharing schemes.
Workers that work in Wales were the least likely to receive support from their employer for commuting as 70 per cent were not offered assistance. Following this, 65 per cent of those working in the South West and East Midlands do not receive help from their employer whilst, for the East of England, this number drops slightly to 64 per cent.
In contrast, 67 per cent of those working in London were offered help to ease the problem of commuting, closely followed by workers in Northern Ireland of which 65 per cent received help.
The average commute for a UK worker is now 62 minutes, with 15 per cent of workers having a commute of 102 minutes or more daily.
Catherine Diamond, director of HR at Moneybarn, said:
As employers it’s important to pay attention to the impact commuting is having on staff and take action to recognise this as part of health and wellbeing strategies.
Offerings such as more flexible working arrangements to avoid rush hour, car share schemes and subsidised transport costs are becoming increasingly valued by workers and could help businesses attract and retain the best talent.
This survey was carried out by OnePoll, a survey-led marketing research company who surveyed 2,000 full time workers who commute by car, train or bus.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
