If you got paid for commuting...

YOU could be earning nearly £180,000 more in your lifetime if your commute on the Tube counted as work in the eyes of your boss.

HR magazine, Personnel Today, says we are all spending more and more time commuting, with travel times now five minutes longer on average than they were in 2007.

As the daily commute saps more of your time, you might want to know how much money that would all convert to if it counted as time at work.

If it takes you less than 15 minutes, you would be earning £2.77 more each day. That’s based on an average salary of £40,560 per year (£20.80 per hour).

For the 22% of people who commute between 46 and 60 minutes, according to conference call providers Meetupcall, your earnings jump up to an extra £18.37 per day.

If it takes you more than an hour to get to work, that is £23.57 a day you could be earning.

In total, the average commuter would earn £13.32 more each day.

Based on 261 working days per year (which is how many there were in 2018 and will be in 2019), that is £3,462 more to your salary.

If you are coming from Ruislip in west London to Bank on your commute, you would be earning £168,431 more in your lifetime.

Going to Bank from Barking? That is around £102,312 more in your lifetime. Or £2,088 on top of your salary.

Earnings per commute in London are calculated as:

■ 1-15 minutes – £2.77 per day

■ 16-30 minutes – £7.97

■ 31-45 minutes – £13.17

■ 46-60 minutes – £18.37

■ 61+ minutes – £23.57

Dan Greenslade, marketing specialist at Meetupcall, said: “It’s not until you crunch the numbers that you can see the staggering financial cost of commuting in London and across the whole of the UK.

“There is such high earning potential during commutes, we can’t help but wonder whether this research will make individuals rethink how they spend their commute – and perhaps make more productive use of the time.”

“Employers have options too. There are so many developments in technology now that facilitate remote working, allowing staff to cut out the commute entirely, or work flexibly while they’re on the move.”