In preparation for writing this article, I reviewed a lot of material on the Internet. I expected to see the average travel time to work in cities with a population of over a million, but statistics in this area affect not only geographical parameters.
It turns out that the time that people are willing to spend commuting to work also depends on their chosen profession. Do you know who spends the least time on the road? Teachers and sellers. They get to work in about 25-30 minutes. Accountants, lawyers, and marketers are willing to travel 40-50 minutes. It was unexpected for me that doctors and programmers were on the road for about an hour.
If you take into account all my friends, the travel time to work is about an hour. To this hour you need to add morning fees and the error for traffic jams.
Travel time - work in the distant kingdom
In the summer of 2020, I decided to quit freelancing and got a job as a marketer in a web studio. The journey took more than 2 hours a day.
A typical stop in a residential area.
I woke up at 6:40 in the morning, got ready, put on my makeup, and got the kids up. Fortunately, I didn’t have to feed them breakfast, because the kindergarten has breakfast at 8:20. I left the house at 7:10, at 7:25 in kindergarten, it took another 10-15 minutes to “change clothes”, handing over the child to the teacher at 7:35-7:40.
If you leave the kindergarten at 7:40, you will be at the bus stop at 7:50. You need to wait for the bus, ride for 25-35 minutes, then walk from the stop to the office. If you walk ten minutes, then you arrived just 15 minutes before the start of the working day. This time is enough to eat some kind of limp sandwich, drink coffee and turn on the computer.
Let's consider the option by car. It would seem 30 minutes faster, because you don’t have to walk to and from the stop. True, but if you leave 30 minutes later, you end up stuck in a traffic jam. The ride takes 30-40 minutes, just like by bus. Time savings - 20-30 minutes. And in the morning, every minute is worth its weight in gold. From this savings you need to subtract 5 minutes to warm up the car and 5 minutes to find a parking space.
The time spent on the road to work is from 2 hours a day. 2 hours a day, 10 hours in 5 working days, 40 hours in 4 weeks. If we divide these 40 hours by 8 (the number of hours in a working day), we get 5 days. That is, 5 working days a month are spent just on travel.
What if you count it over a year? 40 hours or 5 working days multiplied by 12, we get 480 hours or 60 working days. 60 working days are 3 months, not 2, because there are 20 working days in a month.
The most important thing is that this time is spent for the sake of work, but is not paid. But if an office employee did not travel for these 480 hours, but worked, then he would have not 12 salaries, but 15.
It's rare that the commute to work can bring aesthetic pleasure. Gray and cold streets due to unfavorable climate.
The main problems associated with long journeys
A long commute to work is a migraine that includes self-destruction. It's a mundane task about as enjoyable as putting furniture into boxes or filling out paperwork to renew your driver's license, only you have to do it every day. If you are on the road, you... You don't grow, you don't do the hard part of the job, you don't have sex, you don't pet your dog or play with your kids. You do absolutely nothing that brings you joy.
Instead, you get sick on the bus, get pushed around on a packed train, or get cut off in traffic.
Over the past decade or so, researchers have made significant strides in understanding the effects of a horribly long commute to work. Those who have to travel long distances to the office suffer from:
- severe pain;
- constant stress;
- obesity and constant dissatisfaction.
Is living in a large suburban house or the savings from choosing a cheap rental home worth it? Surely not.
Women's No. 1 priority is sex.
Research confirms the most obvious point: we ourselves do not like the long commute to work, considering this task unpleasant and stressful. In 2006, Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and Princeton economist Alan Kruger conducted a survey of 900 women in Texas. They asked them to prioritize the environment of the most common and regular tasks. Sex took first place. Communication after work took second place. The commute to work remains hopelessly at the very bottom of the list. " Morning commutes are considered particularly unpleasant
"- noted the researchers.
This one's in trouble
"there is a side effect. It makes us less happy overall. A survey last year for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, for example, found that 40 percent of workers who commute more than 90 minutes to the office “remember less useful information learned the previous day.” This figure drops to 28% for those who commute to work in a “negligible” time – less than 10 minutes. Workers who spend a lot of time commuting have less rest and less “fun.”
Long journeys also make us feel more lonely.
Working without transportation costs is working from home
An office employee not only spends his time on the road, but also money on transportation. By bus, of course, it’s cheap (about 1,500 rubles per month), but I would like more comfortable conditions. Let's calculate how much it costs to maintain a car.
Let's take an average car (Corolla, Solaris, Ford Focus):
- 600,000 rubles - the cost of the car, 8,000 - 12,000 rubles - the monthly loan payment;
- 5000 rub. – tax once a year;
- 12,000 rub. – OSAGO;
- 1300 rub. – gasoline for a week;
- 15,000 rub. – Maintenance once a year;
- 4,000 rub. – “change shoes” 2 times from winter wheels to summer wheels and vice versa;
- 3000 rub. – parking if 100 rubles/night.
And now for unexpected expenses:
- Fines – speeding, illegal parking, seat belts;
- Long distances;
- Accidents, punctures, tire fitting;
- Tuning, floor mats, music, steering wheel furs, seat covers.
If we assume that the car is not on credit, but bought with your own money, then about 8,000 rubles are spent on it every month. This takes into account the fact that you place it under the windows of the house, and not in a parking lot, drive only according to the rules, and store the wheels on your balcony.
That’s right, when I had my own car (Corolla), I spent about 6,000 rubles on gasoline. per month. The most interesting thing is that now (without a car) I spend about 3,000 - 4,000 rubles a month on a taxi. For me, having my own car is much more expensive than taking a taxi.
Spacious trunk of my former car.
You say: “But this is your own car. First I bought it, then I sold it.” Keep in mind that cars age and become cheaper. If you bought a car for 600 thousand, then how much will you sell it for in a couple of years? Thousands for 500 - 540, no more.
Is the commute to and from work included in working hours?
Attention
This maximum working time applies to the vast majority of workers and is therefore legally considered a general measure of labor. The procedure for calculating the norm of working time for certain calendar periods (month, quarter, year) depending on the established duration of working time per week is determined by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated August 13, 2009 No. 588n “On approval of the Procedure for calculating the norm of working time for certain calendar periods of time (month, quarter, year) depending on the established duration of working hours per week.” It says that the standard working time for a particular month is calculated as follows: the length of the working week (40, 39, 36, 30, 24, etc.
Freelancer vs office employee
Let's take the average salary in my city (Krasnoyarsk, millionaire) - 37,000 rubles. An office employee driving a car immediately loses from this amount 8,000 rubles per month and a little less than 40 hours on travel. If there is no car, then he will ride the bus, he will get tired of it, and he will take out a loan for a car. Will lose 8000 rubles. for maintenance and 8,000 - 10,000 rubles. for a monthly payment.
Commuting to work by bicycle in Russia is cold. Moreover, this is not accepted, other employees will laugh. Well, let's laugh.
Freelancers can ditch the car and take a taxi. Moreover, trips will not be every day. And where should you go if you work from home?
What can you do with your free 2 hours a day? For sports, family, hobbies and work. If you work a total of 40 hours more, your income increases by 25%. We already believed that 40 hours is a full work week.
Remote work has its disadvantages - procrastination, “spreading” a two-hour task over the whole day, days off at will, creative holidays. An office employee cannot afford this; he comes and works under the strict supervision of management.
If you are a freelancer, then you already have an advantage: there is no need to spend 2 hours a day on the road, there is no need to maintain a car. If you also ask yourself the question “How to work faster and more efficiently?”, learn to set goals for yourself, provide clients with the best quality of services, build a system for attracting clients, then you can earn 50% more salary in your region.
As a freelancer, you have much more time to work and less to spend.
Working hours on a business trip
Many employers are interested in whether there is working time during a business trip. According to the definition, at this time the employee, based on the terms of the contract with the employer, must perform his own job duties.
Since on a business trip the employee is not engaged in the performance of work duties, but is working on a job assignment, this period does not apply to working time.
However, the employer must still display it on the time sheet.
On weekends and holidays
An employee on a business trip is subject to the work and rest time schedule provided for at the place of business trip.
However, the average earnings are retained for all working days of the employee according to the schedule of the main place of work.
This means that the employee rests on a business trip on those days that are set as days off by the new employer.
If an employee was sent on a business trip on his legal day off, then after returning from it he is given an extra day of rest or monetary compensation.
Weekends and holidays that fall while the employee is on a business trip are marked by the employer on the timesheet as days off in accordance with the adopted local regulations[/anchor].
For example, weekends that fall during a business trip are usually designated by the letter “B”. If an employee worked on his legal day off, then the code “RV” is entered.
Duration
The employer does not set the standard length of his working day for a posted employee. It must be determined by the employee independently, based on the complexity and nature of the official assignment.
When determining the length of the working day, the employee must be guided by the goal of completing the assigned task during the business trip.
However, if an employee fails to complete a work assignment during a business trip, the employer may increase the duration of the trip or require overtime work.
Payment for a business trip on a holiday is increased. How is sick leave paid on a business trip? See here.
Overtime work
Overtime work during a business trip is an excess of daily work hours over the number of working hours established at the employee’s workplace.
Overtime work during business travel is not subject to the labor law provisions that apply to normal overtime work.
What privileges can be applied to an employee if he is involved in such work on a business trip:
- increased pay for additional hours;
- providing additional rest;
- increasing an employee’s vacation by adding additional days;
- payment of a special bonus for overtime work.
Any organization may introduce additional incentives for working beyond normal limits during a business trip.
If the working days of a business trip are indicated in the time sheet by the letter code “K”, then the days of overtime work can be indicated as “SK”.
You won't rest on the way
Inadmissibility of “smoking breaks” during working hours It is no secret that unauthorized rest is often arranged during working hours: drinking tea, talking, putting oneself in order, going to the store, so-called “smoking breaks”. This is far from a small thing, as some people think. The employer has the right to apply penalties such as a reprimand, reprimand, or fine. If you are regularly distracted from your main duties during working hours by personal matters, even dismissal is possible if there have been several disciplinary sanctions before. Attention Rest time is strictly regulated by law.
And if the work day begins at 9.00, then all activities not related to the main professional duties must be completed before that. Being late for more than 15 minutes will result in disciplinary action.
Absence from work for more than 4 hours will result in dismissal.
Is the time spent traveling to the site considered working time?
The significance of limiting working hours by law is that: 1) it protects the employee’s health from excessive overwork and contributes to the longevity of his professional ability to work and life; 2) for the working hours established by law, society and production receive from each employee the necessary certain measure of labor; 3) allows the employee to study on-the-job, improve his qualifications, cultural and technical level (develop personality), which in turn contributes to the growth of the employee’s labor productivity and the reproduction of a qualified workforce. The time during which the employee, although he does not perform his job duties, but performs other actions, includes periods of time that are recognized as working time, for example, downtime through no fault of the employee.
Is the time spent commuting to work included in working hours?
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- “Labor Code of the Russian Federation” dated December 30, 2001 N 197-FZ Article 300.
The travel time to the place of work was recognized as part of the working day
- protection of the rights to just and favorable working conditions, including equal opportunities and equal remuneration for work of equal value, safe and healthy working conditions;
- ensuring the implementation of labor rights, including the right to professional associations;
- access to general technical and vocational guidance programmes, placement services and vocational and continuing education;
- providing reasonable accommodations to the workplace;
- promoting vocational and skill rehabilitation programs, job retention and return to work.
Such guarantees are established in Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Additional clarifications
Working time is considered to be the time that an employee actually worked during the day. This also includes periods of forced downtime and breaks paid by the company during the working day. This time period may exceed the accepted norm or, conversely, be less than it.
You can calculate the duration of one shift by first defining the weekly norm for each employee.
The Labor Code of the Russian Federation (Section IV, Chapters 15 and 16) clearly regulates the norms of daily and weekly working hours. The Constitution of the country (Article 37, paragraph 5) establishes the right to rest for each worker.
Following Art. 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, both parties to the labor agreement have the right to designate acceptable limits for the working day. The accepted routine (lunch period, beginning and end of the shift) may also be subject to discussion. The norm established by law, equal to 40 hours per week, is considered the basic one for the vast majority of workers. The following facts do not play a big role:
- Length of the working week (5 or 6 days).
- Organizational and legal form of the company (IP, LLC, etc.).
- Types of work performed.
The law controls compliance with time limits in the labor process, which means:
- Protects every working citizen from overwork and provides him with time to rest.
- Allows any enterprise to receive the required amount of work completed on a daily basis.
- Gives the worker the opportunity to grow as a person, develop culturally and spiritually, and improve his qualifications and skills.
Sometimes a worker’s work is downtime due to circumstances beyond his control. This period of time is also considered working.
