Survey: Workers 'sick' of commuting

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CHELMSFORD, Mass., May 1 (UPI) -- More than 5 million American workers have at some point called into work sick because they couldn't face the commute, a survey says.

Four percent of adults who commute to work have called in sick and stayed at home rather than spend hours in their cars, a rate of unscheduled absence that costs organizations 8.7 percent of payroll annually, a survey conducted for The Workforce Institute at Kronos Inc. reported last week.

Only 6 percent of working adults are paid for the time they spend commuting to their jobs, the survey found.

Forty-five percent of adults surveyed spend less than 30 minutes commuting, 32 percent spend 30-59 minutes, and 16 percent spend between 1 and 2 hours.

Almost half said commuting affected job satisfaction, 15 percent said they would change jobs to shorten their commute, and 11 percent feel their commute negatively affects their work-life balance, the survey said.

"Managers should be mindful of the time their employees spend commuting as our survey shows it has a significant impact on job satisfaction," said Joyce Maroney, director of The Workforce Institute.

The online survey was conducted March 2-4 among 2,042 adults, of whom 1,077 commute to work.