Public transport blamed for workers' tardiness

Employees are late once a week on average due to public transport, new research has suggested.

Furthermore, workers who are tardy will arrive on average 36 minutes late, the survey by Abbey revealed.

In fact, 500,000 employees across the UK are completely unable to get to work once a month due to unreliable public transport systems, the study found.

Managing Director of Abbey's Business Banking, Ian Wilson, commented: 'The impact on our working day is often overlooked.'

The cost of lost productivity to employers can be considerable, Mr Wilson also noted.

'The smaller the business the greater the burden of staff lateness, so the onus really is on the individual to build in enough time not to leave colleagues and bosses in the lurch,' he warned.

Those who work from home do not have to commute and will miss out on such problems - one possible benefit of the arrangement that was applauded by telecoms giant BT yesterday.