Return To Office Is Not A Perk: Why Your Commute Policy Belongs In Your Total Rewards Strategy

Summary:

Return to office is not just a business decision. It is a Total Rewards decision that affects pay, time, and employee wellbeing. In this post, I break down why RTO often feels like a pay cut and how small employers can design commute conscious Total Rewards programs that employees can actually say yes to.

Return to office is a Total Rewards decision, not just a policy

When my LinkedIn post about returning to the office took off and crossed fifteen thousand impressions, the comments all pointed to one truth:

• Most employees are not anti-work. They are tired of paying the price for decisions that ignore their time, their commute, and their lives outside the office.

• Return to office is not just a workplace trend. It is a Total Rewards decision. If you treat it like a business decision instead of a pay and benefits decision, your employees will feel the gap immediately.

• In this post, I want to break down why return to office feels like a pay cut for so many employees, and how small employers can design commute conscious Total Rewards programs that actually work.

The reality: Returning to the Office (RTO) is happening in a very different environment

We are not going back to 2019. The landscape has changed.

Office occupancy has stabilized at a much lower level than before the pandemic. Many companies are still hybrid. At the same time, traffic is back, congestion is rising, and public transit patterns have shifted.

On top of that, more employers are tightening office mandates. Three or four days a week in office is becoming more common, even while employees say flexibility is the benefit they value most.

So when employers say “everyone back in three or four days” without adjusting anything else, employees are doing the math. And they do not like the answer.

Why return to office feels like a pay cut

From an employee’s perspective, an office mandate changes three core things: time cost, cash cost, and energy cost. When those costs go up and nothing else changes, RTO feels like a pay cut.

1. Time cost

Two extra office days can easily add four to six additional commute hours per week. That is half a workday of unpaid time, often pulled away from childcare, elder care, side income, or recovery time.

2. Cash cost

Gas, parking, public transit, tolls, eating lunch out, and work clothes all add up fast. For hourly and lower paid employees, the new commute cost can quietly wipe out a raise.

3. Energy cost

Commutes, crowded trains, traffic, and the mental shift from home to office all drain capacity. If the office experience is not clearly more productive or more supportive, employees feel like they are spending more to get less.

Add those three pieces together and offer no adjustment in pay, benefits, or flexibility, and your RTO policy effectively operates like a pay cut. You may not see it in your payroll data. You will see it in your turnover, engagement, and the quality of the candidates willing to accept your offers.

Five moves to make this quarter

If you are unsure where to start, here is a simple roadmap.

1. Quantify the commute

Ask employees how long their commute is, what it costs, and how many days they are currently in. You do not need exact receipts. You need a realistic picture of the burden your policy creates.

2. Clarify your office “why”

Here's a big one...If you cannot clearly articulate the business value of being in person, employees will assume the value is only for you, not for them. Tighten the story. Is it collaboration, training, customer work, culture building, or something else?

3. Align your pay philosophy with your location stance

If you expect in person presence, make sure your pay ranges and internal equity reflect that expectation, especially for lower paid roles and frontline teams.

4. Add at least one commute conscious benefit

Start small if you need to. A commuter stipend, a parking partnership, or one dedicated “meeting free” remote day can go a long way in how employees experience your policy.

5. Communicate RTO as part of Total Rewards, not a stand alone rule

When you roll out RTO updates, frame them with the full picture. Connect the policy to pay, benefits, flexibility, development, and wellbeing, not just badge swipes.

The bottom line

Return to office will keep evolving. Traffic will keep changing. Employees will keep weighing your asks against the real cost of saying yes.

You cannot control the highway, but you can control how your Total Rewards strategy responds to the world your employees are commuting through.

If you are a small employer trying to balance budget, equity, and retention, this is exactly where a thoughtful Total Rewards strategy pays off. My work at The Avoir Company focuses on helping small businesses design competitive, equitable, and scalable compensation and benefits programs that match the realities of today’s workforce.

Your RTO stance sends a loud message about what and who you value. Make sure the message matches the kind of team you are trying to keep.