Sustainable travel time - The maths

Employers considering Sustainable Travel Leave often ask, “how much time will colleagues take off for sustainable travel?” and are surprised to learn that the average amount of time claimed for sustainable travel equates to just three minutes per employee per month - or nine seconds per employee per day.

In this post we’ll look at the maths behind this figure -

Context

There are 252 working days in the UK working year. The average working day is 7 hours. This equates to 1,764 total working hours per employee per year. (NB: The maths is the same for a 7.5 or 8 hour day)

For a company with 100 employees, there are 176,400 total working hours per year.

Employees are entitled to 14 hours of sustainable travel time per year. 5-10% of employees will claim some time, with most not claiming the full amount.

Example: If 5% of employees claimed 7 hours of STL

If 5 out of 100 employees each claim 7 hours (420 minutes) - this is total time claimed for sustainable travel:

• 5 × 420 = 2,100 minutes

• = 35 hours claimed for sustainable travel (per 100 employees per year)

Spread across all 100 employees: 2,100 minutes ÷ 100 = 21 minutes per employee per year

Per month: 21 minutes ÷ 12 = 1.75 minutes sustainable travel leave per employee per month

Example: If 10% of employees claimed 14 hours of STL

If 10 out of 100 employees each claimed 14 hours (840 minutes) — total time claimed for sustainable travel:

• 10 × 840 = 8,400 minutes

• = 140 hours claimed for sustainable travel (per 100 employees per year)

Spread across all 100 employees: 8,400 minutes ÷ 100 = 84 minutes per employee per year

Per month: 84 minutes ÷ 12 = 7 minutes sustainable travel leave per employee per month

In 2025, 7.5% of all employees with access to STL claimed an average of 1.4 days (9.8 hours). This equates to:

3.7 minutes per employee per month / 9 seconds per day.