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Would employees come back to the office if their commute was paid for?

23 Mar 2022

    • Research has shown that 76% of business owners believe their employees would be incentivised to return to the workplace if their commute time was included in their working hours. Financial comparison experts NerdWallet, in a poll of 500 UK business owners at office-based companies with more than ten employees, found that employees would be more amenable to a permanent return to the office if the financial savings they have realised from working remotely were kept when working back at the office.

    NerdWallet’s research found that employees who were able to work remotely or in a hybrid model saved, on average, £234 a month by cutting out commuting costs. Over a quarter (29%) of employees are prepared to add up to 45 minutes to their commute to afford a property if their commutes were less frequent. As a result, employers may need to incentivise the commute to make attending the office a more attractive proposition to the workforce.

    Time spent travelling to and from work is not usually counted as working time.

    The vast majority of employers surveyed (86%) felt that reimbursing commuting costs would be an effective incentive, which could be carried out in a number of ways:

    • 68% agreed with reimbursing commute expenses, e.g. a bus or train pass.
    • 67% agreed with paying for parking.
    • 64% agreed with cycle to work incentives, e.g. cash back on bike purchase schemes.
    • 63% agreed with grants for electric vehicles used for commuting

    To ensure equality when introducing commute incentives:

    • 39% felt that a maximum travel distance per day should be set.
    • 41% felt that a maximum travel time limit per day should be set.
    • 42% felt that a limited number of days’ public transport should be reimbursed.

    More than a third (38%) said they felt public transport costs for the entire working week should be reimbursed if their employees were required to return to the office full-time. Of the employers who were more open to a hybrid model, 42% thought paid incentives were important to motivate a voluntary return to the office compared with only 21% of those wanting a full-time return to the office. By contrast, 45% of those looking for a full return to the office were choosing to make the office space itself a more appealing destination to draw people back in.​​