AA commute smart from home and on two wheels

Three hundred AA employees are less stressed and are saving 90,000 litres of fuel or 620,000 miles commuting each year by working from home, according to the AA as part of Workwise UK “commute smart week”.

The AA has also sent out 50 motorcycles and electric scooters to help with commuter breakdowns in busy cities. This move has helped the AA patrols to “commute” more easily but is also a big hit with broken down commuters who get their vehicles fixed more quickly.

250 AA breakdown call centre employees and 50 insurance call handlers now work from the comfort of their own homes rather than commuting to call centres across the country. This in turn saves 212.5 tonnes of CO2 per year.

The AA has been a pioneer in the field of home working having started a pilot scheme in Leeds over ten years ago. Now the company has 300 homeworkers spread across Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff. The AA is looking to increase numbers in the Leeds area.

Some of the advantages to the homeworkers are:

Avoiding the cost and congestion of the commute
Lower stress levels
Unlikely to be late for work
Calmer working environment
Combining work with childcare
More flexibility for doctor/dentist appointments
Always someone at home for security, comfort of family.

Some of the advantages to the AA are:

Saves on office space
Increased productivity
Less absenteeism
Easy to find recruits
Technology works, broadband brought down costs
Split shifts fit with busiest time on road
Increased employee loyalty.

Commenting, Edmund King, AA president said: “Our employees are saving valuable time and money by working from home. They tend to be less stressed as they don’t suffer the road rage of congestion and are more able to fit in the family commitments around their work.

“In transport terms home working cuts out the commute, reduces congestion and carbon emissions. Hopefully other companies will follow the AA lead to put more workers on the superhighway rather than the actual highway now that the technology is much more affordable.

“We also encourage call centre staff to car share and our patrols are doing their bit to reduce stress and emissions with skills gained from eco driver training. Our fifty AA motorbike patrols have also taken the stress out of city centre breakdowns as they can beat the traffic.”

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, said: “Commute Smart Week aims to demonstrate the advantages of smarter commuting and working, and the initiatives taken by the AA are excellent examples. They demonstrate that both employer and employee benefit in terms of cost savings, reductions in stress, improving well being, and happier more productive staff.

“But it does not stop there; removing traffic from the roads and people from public transport eases congestion and overcrowding which makes commuting a more bearable experience for those that have no choice. The environment also benefits as traffic emissions are reduced not only from the cars that are now not being used, but from the traffic which is now flowing more freely.”