What is a Reasonable Travelling Distance? (Employers Guide)

Every employee does not want to switch or relocate their job place to a different area. The reason lies behind the satisfaction and comfort zone of the worker/ employee. That’s why nobody wants to change their workplace. But if your organisation is shifting their whole office to some other area or maybe they are just posting your office or branch from one to another, a key consideration will determine whether your employees’ distance from the office is reasonable.

Unfortunately, under the legislation of the UK, there are no such defined laws for reasonable travelling distance. However, you must use some common sense to consider various conditions.

Your employees come to the office in many ways, including cars, buses, trains, cycles, etc. Hence, in the UK, cars are the most used and easy mode of travelling, followed by buses and trains. Based on different surveys, an average employee in the UK spends almost £1,738 per year in the form of travelling to work. This per year amount costs over a total of £134,695 for a lifetime.  

However, this doesn’t include the value of the time they spend reaching their workplace. As per the research conducted by TUC, the average commuting time of the employee is 59 minutes, or you can say almost one hour.

The following guide for employers and HR professionals explains what reasonable travel distances are for employees and what the UK law says about them. In addition to this, the following points will tell you about the factors while asking your workers to work in a different branch, office, or place. It also emphasised how to tackle the request of considering the relocation before it is too late.

Reasonable travelling distance

Apropos, the reasonable travelling distance isn’t available in the law of the UK by default. In this case, the employee can use some common sense and also change the job from one company to another. However, these changes must be according to the employment law of the UK and must be entertained without any dispute from both ends.

There are several reasons behind your worker needs to consider the distance for travelling to a new workplace. Some are mentioned below:-

• No vacancy held against the employee’s post
• Change of designation/post
• Planned transfer/posting
• Your change of business/service
• Change of working hours

You should go through the employment contract for the clause about travelling. If there’s nothing found about the travelling distance, you can move them according to the need. Whereas if your worker has requested that their distance be unreasonable, you can look into the matter and adjust their routes or journey. The main right of the employee is that their employers look at the extent of their journeys. All the above adjustments are made to improve the employee’s work-life balance.

As an employer, you must make these transitions as painless as possible.

Check: Can Employees Go On Holiday While Off Sick?

Cost of commuting to work

Based on different surveys, an average employee in the UK spends almost £1,738 per year in the form of travelling to work. This per year amount costs over a total of £134,695 for a lifetime.  However, this doesn’t include the value of the time they spend reaching their workplace. As per the research conducted by TUC, the average commuting time of the employee is 59 minutes or, you can say, almost one hour.

The lengthy or long distance travelling to work can negatively impact the employees’ nature. These negative effects are as below:

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Absence from work
• Low performance
• Less productivity

It is a fact; nobody can work at their best level after facing these difficulties. They have to work with their mind fresh and relax without any fear. Although, you can improve these situations by offering the following:-

1. Work from Home.
2. Part-time work.
3. Flexibility in their working timings.
4. Sharing their jobs with other colleagues. 

Gone are the days when you only have the “physical presence” option. Still, today in the modern world of technology, everything is possible. From audio calling to video and digital presence to physical, the advancement in technology has covered you all. Gradually, some organisations allow their employees to work remotely, which means online. 

The advancement in technology allows individuals to communicate around the world without any restrictions. This technique helps reduce the cost of commuting to work.

After gathering all the options for relaxing your employee, you are still uncertain about working from home. Then do consider a trial period once, monitor all the performances and then decide to opt for this.

Travelling costs

There is always a clause about travelling costs in the employment contract. The contract determines whether or not you will bear the travelling cost of relocating or other circumstances. If not, there is no need to cover the travelling cost if it is no provision in the contract. However, if you want to, you can compensate at your end.

If the posting requires more travelling costs and time than expected, you should make transitions clear by thinking about how much you can compensate the employee financially and adjust their working hours. You may also risk the loss of an employee if the relocating has no financial or timing incentive. If the employee says the distance to the new workplace is unreasonable and offers to pay their travel time or travel expenses, you can mutually decide and resolve the issue within yourselves.

You can consider traveling costs reasonable for your employee only if they receive financial and time incentives from you. If you want a particular employee to be detailed to a proposed workplace, consider compensating them.

Mobility Clauses

There are several reasons why you want to relocate your company or ask your employees to commute to a different place, branch, or office. This mobility will help you save money or maybe some other factors, such as employees needed in other company areas.

Although your points are valid for their new workplace, you should always ask your employees about their relocation as it is in their employment contract. Suppose their ongoing contract of employment contains a mobility clause – requiring the employees to perform their jobs role in a different location. In that case, they must agree to your decision in any reasonable proposed distance that falls within their scope and area.

For instance, if an employee’s mobility clause in their employment contract requires them to relocate within certain limits, including a certain radius, and the new workplace falls within those limits, the employee will have to work as per the assigned office. However, in some cases, if there is no such clause of mobility as mentioned above, this term should be added in these scenarios.

In some cases, the contract of employment is neutral on the place or branch, although it requires the worker to perform all the duties necessary and in favour of the company’s growth. But, the circumstances are way too limited, and the distance of the proposed workplace needs to be reasonable.

The employment contract suggests whether the employee needs to move to another branch or move with certain parameters or limitations.

Can an employee refuse to relocate?

If an employee does not want to relocate, then they should be intimate as soon as possible after they listen to the posting. The employee’s objections can be overturned if their objections are resolved by giving them financial and timing incentives. If still the dispute continues and the worker is not willing to move to another branch, you can take an action of dismissal by the act of breaching the contract/agreement.

In simple or other words, if an employee has an express mobility clause in the contract of agreement and declines the offer to work in another branch or other location of the office, the result will be a breach of contract. While in the case of non-availability of financial compensation, an employee may refuse to relocate for several economic reasons. The employee can also claim that the expense of extra travel distance is too high for them. After this, you should still act professionally while just relying on the provision of any express mobility clause.

You should not force the employee to change the position of their job location, even if the terms and conditions of the mobility clause are mentioned in the draft. Several factors make it difficult for a certain employee to change their location. This means if the new location falls under the parameters of the employee, they are still able to request and argue that your assigned move is unreasonable (nature of proposed location and their results).

Tips for Reasonable travelling distance

If an employee requests to work some other location as it will add extra time and expenses to their daily routine. This request can raise questions regarding reasonableness as there is no clarity on the legislation of ‘reasonable travel distance’.

In other scenarios, even if there is a clear-cut contractual provision about reasonable travelling or if the employment contract is neutral on the move. In these cases, you should first discuss with that particular employee rather than forcing them to move.

The below-mentioned practical tips and tricks will assist you in performing a fair process by decreasing the risk of any disputes and increasing the acceptance rates of moves:-

• Be Clear: From the beginning, be clear about your intentions, intimating the employees regarding the change of their proposed job. Moreover, tell them the reasons behind it and the time period.
• Work from Home: To reduce the number of days requiring travel, you should also utilize online methods for working from home. You can also allow for flexible working hours to avoid travelling during rush hour by starting and ending work at different times and places without being present in the office.
• Alternative Arrangements: you should also allow enough time for the employees to make any alternative arrangements, such as childcare, that may become compulsory in the latter part, as a result of the extra time required to commute.
• Offer financial incentives: you can also arrange and offer financial incentives, such as travel expenses, a raise in salary, or honorarium where required, to avoid any potential disputes.
• Overcome the objections: you must consider any objections of the employee and overcome them on a case-by-case basis, not making it difficult for them to relocate.
• Discussion: Always discuss with affected employees before making any decision and give them some time to listen to their concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)