Company Programs Help Employees Save on Gas

But three weeks ago, Dupree's employer, clockmaker Lathem Time Corp., introduced a new program that has tremendously improved his lifestyle — and his budget: a compressed work week. Instead of driving to the office during peak traffic hours each day, the 34-year-old technical support worker now takes Wednesdays off and logs in 10-hour days the rest of the week. Leaving work at 6:30 p.m. means skipping evening rush-hour traffic, which has shortened his driving time by an hour. And commuting four days instead of five, he estimates, is saving him one tank of gas a month. "It's definitely improved my work," he says. "My stress level is down. Getting that break in the middle of the week is like a mini-weekend for me."

Lathem Time, which started programs like van- and car-pooling for its factory workers and telecommuting for its management back in October 2005, is on the cutting edge of a new wave in employee benefits: helping employees offset rising gas costs. "Gas is continuing to rise and it's a big concern as to how employees will make it to work — what we can do to keep them here. We don't want to lose employees," says Grace Perry, the company's director of human resources.

With gas prices at $4 a gallon these days, it's a valid concern. In a survey of 800 full-time employees conducted this spring, Wayne Hochwarter, professor of management at Florida State University's College of Business, found that high gas prices lead to more stress on the job and affect employee performance. One-third of the respondents said they would quit their job for a comparable one closer to home. "A lot of people I talked to are in the midst of a job search because they know if they stay where they're at, they're not going to keep up," Hochwarter says. "They're being hit with all these new and heightened expenses but real wages haven't kept up."

Pricey commutes not only play a role in retaining existing employees, but also in recruiting new ones. In a recent survey by outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 34% of employers said they met with potential candidates who turned down jobs because of long commutes. Nearly 8% said high transportation costs caused employees to leave.

Despite talk of a recession and a sluggish job market, the unemployment rate is still at a relatively healthy 5%, so sought-after job seekers and top-performing employees have the upper hand, explains John Challenger, the firm's CEO. "More and more employers are realizing that they can't take the chance to lose key employees," he notes. "There are good people who know they're hirable, know they can find something else and just don't want to deal with the cost of the commute."

The good news: The idea seems to be catching on. More than half (57%) of the companies in the Challenger, Gray & Christmas survey said they have a program in place that helps offset employees' high gas costs. (See sidebar for details.) Even so, the work-life balance benefits, such as telecommuting and flexible work weeks, that companies have experimented with for years still remain relatively limited, according to Challenger. "It'll be interesting to see whether or not — if gas prices continue to go up — we'll see a tipping point," he says.