Right now, there’s no bigger threat to employees’ salary satisfaction than the sky-high prices at the gas pump. Here are five ways companies are helping employees cope.

1. Tax-free transit benefits 

Now’s a good time to look into the pre-tax and de minimus transportation benefits allowed by the IRS. As gas prices soar above $4 per gallon, interest in such plans is at an all-time high. 

The pre-tax benefit works much like a cafeteria plan although, legally, it must be set up as a separate type of flex account. In 2009, the monthly tax-free contribution for qualified parking has increased to $220. The one for public transit or vanpool passes increased to $115. 

Employees can either pay through a pre-paid debit card — three of the more popular options on the market are Transitchek, eTRAC and TransLink – or submit receipts and get reimbursed.

The biggest advantage of the transit benefit is that it has the same effect as a small pay raise, without an actual salary increase. An employee earning $45,000 per year, who incurs $115 per month in mass transit expenses, lifts take-home pay by approximately $492. That’s equivalent to a 1.70% raise.

On a very limited basis, the IRS also allows employers to reimburse employees directly for transportation expenses without imposing taxes. In order to meet the de minimus requirement, the reimbursements must be of small value and given irregularly. For instance, if you reimburse the occasional transit fare to an employee working overtime, you’re in the clear.

Unfortunately, the feds consider gasoline gift cards  a taxable fringe benefit. Nevertheless, they can make for excellent incentives and recognition awards, especially for employees who drive long distances to work. 

2. Carpooling subsidies

A handful of companies — about 5%, according to the Society for Human Resource Management — currently offer subsidies to employees who carpool to work. A small fraction (less than 1%) offer a gas subsidy to employees.

One way to make such benefits less costly: Tie a subsidy to a pay-for-performance compensation plan. That way, you’re rewarding only the most deserving employees and giving average performers incentive to pick up the pace.

3. Telecommuting and flex-time

It’s not always possible or desireable to offer employees the option of telecommuting or flexing their schedules to come into work at off-peak travel hours. But if you do have such programs, plug the heck out of them not only as a work-life perk, but also a financial incentive for employees to lower their gas costs.

Remember: Employees are much more likely to notice the relationship between their commuting times and the extra money in their wallets if you connect the dots for them. The more you promote your existing benefits to your own employees, the higher their satisfaction with their current pay. 

4. Tie commuter benefits to recruiting and retention

A great way to get more bang for the recruiting and retention buck from any of the aforementioned programs is to participate in the Best Workplaces for Commuters program. The non-profit Best Workplaces organization provides qualified employers with national publicity and an “elite employer” designation for offering innovative programs.

Even if you don’t participate, the Best Workplaces site has a slew of free resources for employers, including interactive calculators for doing a cost-benefit analysis of offering commuter benefits, ideas for innovative but low-cost programs, and employee education tools which you can adapt to your own organization’s needs.

5. Sharing money-saving tips

Many people don’t realize the power of simply passing along useful information to employees. For instance, one cynical radio commentator recently suggested that employers who post articles about cutting gas costs on their employee bulletin board are doing “a whole lot of nothing.”

In reality, however, concerned employees notice and appreciate your effort to help them save a few bucks on their own. Some useful pointers that make for good bulletin-board fodder:

• Car sense 101. Even if you’re no auto expert, you can pass along easy-to-use strategies to greatly improve gas mileage. One of our readers e-mailed employees this online checklist of proven ways to get better gas mileage. Here’s another one from an auto parts retailer that’s in a little more bulletin-board friendly format.
• Cheap gas finders. Free sites such as Gasbuddy.com are a great way for employees to locate the cheapest gas at stations near work or their homes.
• The dollars and sense of carpooling. Runzheimer International showed how employees can save up to $1,800 a year in gas money by carpooling. The calculation is based on an average 20 work days per month, a four-employee carpool, a $4.00 per gallon gas price, a standard four-door sedan that gets 20 miles per gallon and a round-trip commute of 50 miles.

Do employees really pay attention to this sort of information? That’s up to them. But at the very least, folks realize that managers go through the same type of aggravation every time they pay $45 or more to fill their own gas tank.