Commuter relief: Companies help employees deal with fuel costs

Earlier this month, employees at Grossbard & Associates in Houston found an extra $50 in their paychecks. The small accounting firm added the money — and plans to continue doing so on an interim basis — to help its 28 workers cope with rising gasoline prices.

"This is our way to recognize they're facing a much higher cost than any of us anticipated," says Paul Grossbard, a shareholder at the firm, adding that all of its employees commute to work by car.

Grossbard is among a growing number of employers that are going out of their way to help workers grapple with the increasing cost of getting to and from the office. Companies are launching a variety of relief initiatives such as providing alternate ways to get to work — including purchasing buses and vans to give employees free rides — and changing corporate policies to accommodate workers who travel for their jobs.

Some companies are increasing mileage rates, providing gas-related cost-of-living raises or even supplementing employees' paychecks to relieve the burden. Others are reconfiguring sales professionals' territories so they are more compact — leaving fewer miles to drive. And a growing number of workers are taking advantage of existing benefits from their employers.

The changes are a welcome respite at a time when the average price of gasoline is hovering around $3.79 a gallon, up significantly over $2.87 a gallon in 2006, and $2.01 in 2004, according to the Energy Information Administration. Today, the average person spends 5 percent of his or her annual income on gasoline, up from 2.5 percent in 2002.

Companies say while they can't control prices at the pump, they can help manage the amount workers pay to fill their tanks. That's what officials at EFC International are doing. Earlier this month, the St. Louis manufacturer began subsidizing part of employees' fuel costs for the number of miles they travel to and from work. The company is reimbursing gas costs over $2.50 per gallon based on a rate of 20 miles per gallon, an amount the company's Chief Executive Doug Adams considers a more reasonable cost for gas. That means an employee who commutes to work 200 miles a week by car (or 40 miles a day round trip), paying around $3.70 (the current local average) per gallon in gas, would be reimbursed just under $50 a month.