For millions of people caught up in the regular “killer commute” the working day gets off to the worst possible start and ends on an equally miserable note.

For the first time, our survey has analysed the effects of the daily commute on people’s overall feelings of wellbeing. The results are clear. The longer people spend travelling to and from work, the more their health appears to suffer.

In previous years, we have looked at the impact of overtime, but travel times have almost identical effects on work-life balance.

At least when employees work long hours, the boss might notice and it is a sign that they are stimulated by their job and regard it as an important part of their life. But endless hours commuting have only a negative effect.

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One way companies can help with the situation is to be flexible about letting staff work from home. Our data reveals that employees feel better about whiling away hours in cars and trains for four days a week if they can work from home on the other day.

The figures are stark: for every two hours that people spend travelling each week, the result for questions on wellbeing goes down by 1.2% on average. People who spend up to two hours a week travelling have an average wellbeing score of 65.4%. For those who spend more than 14 hours a week on the road or in trains, the wellbeing score is just 57.4%.

Dr Pete Bradon, director of research at Best Companies Ltd, says that the similarities between the ill effects of overtime and commuting are astonishing. “The things most affected by travel time – health, pressure, stress and work-life balance – are exactly the same as with overtime. But there is a compensation with overtime. People say their work is more stimulating, and they gain experience. That all makes sense.

“The downside of travel is that you don’t get any positive benefits. If your boss sees you doing an extra three hours in the office, he has a great opinion of you but if you drive for three hours a day, he may just think you are an idiot. Workplaces don’t appreciate the amount of time it takes to get there, even if it might be their fault for siting offices in stupid places.”

Bradon charted travel time against all of the questions in the survey, and found a strong negative correlation for 10 of them: the more people travel, the less happy they are with their work-life balance, how work affects their responsibilities at home, the time spent working and the resulting feelings of exhaustion.

Overtime affects exactly the same questions, although for every two hours of this, overall wellbeing decreases by 1.5%, slightly more (0.3%) than for commuting.

The figures also suggest that stress increases dramatically with increased commuting. When people spend up to two hours a week in transit, few report symptoms of recent work-related stress (23.94%). With more than 14 hours of commuting, stress is almost 30% higher (30.91%).

The people who suffer most are those commuting into London. While people in the east of England commute for an average 4.7 hours weekly, those in the capital clock up more than seven hours a week – an average of 1 hour and 24 minutes a day.

Melanie Heath, corporate communications manager at the property consultancy NB Real Estate, spends almost 2½ hours a day getting from Weybridge in Surrey to central London and back – a mixture of an overland train, Tube ride and walking. “I have chosen not to live in London because I like the countryside, and if you want to work for a good company, you have to be prepared to work in the capital,” she says. “I do think about the hours of my life I spend commuting, but the reward I get in my daily job balances it out.”

She can spend a few ad hoc days a month working from home, thanks to the firm’s flexible policies allowing 70% of employees to spend up to 60% of their time home working. “This does tend to free up the mind,” she says. “It is quieter, you get a lot more done, and the commute doesn’t seem as challenging the next day.”

Things are even more exhausting for someone based in London, but with a roving role. Hilary Richardson, human resources manager for Rider Levett Bucknall UK, explains (from her office at home): “We have a formal policy for people spending most of the time working from home, and also, when appropriate, you can choose to do so and power through your work. We are looking for output, not presenteeism, and it is a huge statement of trust which people don’t abuse.

“I am based in London and have to travel to all other offices in places such as Manchester and Birmingham, so a lot of time is spent on Tubes and trains where you can’t really work. You can just sit at home comfortably and get on with it, and it is lovely not to spend hours commuting.”

Her firm, a construction consultancy, is keen to protect employees’ time. “Certain clients are looking at early morning meetings, and we need to stand back,” she says. “People are putting in additional hours to get there and that is eating into individuals’ time. We are not paying lip service to flexibility: it is about employees’ wellbeing and safety.”

The figures suggest that flexibility about home working is a solution to the problem of commuting. When people can work one day a week from their “home office”, personal growth scores rise by 13.7%, people feel better about their company (up 12.4%) and about the fair deal they are getting (a rise of 11.7%).

Reading-based Microsoft UK has 92% of staff doing up to 60% of work from home. Theresa McHenry, who works in training and development, spent 15 years commuting in and out of London. Now she appreciates the chance to work from home. “It is the overcrowding and unreliability of trains and Tubes. In the car, you can choose when to leave home, and Microsoft is completely flexible about when you come and go.

“I work from home one day a week for my own health, but I do use my hour-long drive to and from Reading to prepare and decompress. You can’t do that on a train when you have an inch of personal space.”

Employers take note. Reducing commuting not only increases how hard people work and how good they feel about themselves and about the firm, just one day a week working from home could also cut employees’ carbon emissions by 20% in one stress-free stroke.

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