Cycle to work scheme
Discussion
Has anyone implemented this for their company?
As we are a SME, the bosses are against having a scheme where we would need to keep #employees * £1000 aside for people to sign up.
Does the scheme have to be made available for everyone in the company? Or could we limit it to X employees per year?
As we are a SME, the bosses are against having a scheme where we would need to keep #employees * £1000 aside for people to sign up.
Does the scheme have to be made available for everyone in the company? Or could we limit it to X employees per year?
Its up to you how you implement it. You don't have to offer it to everyone. It also doesn't have to be £1K. My last place we were small and had tight cashflow. We set a limit of £500 per person.
The other thing to do is open a "window" of when people can apply and then set aside the money for those who want it in that window rather than having to book mark the money for all.
The other thing to do is open a "window" of when people can apply and then set aside the money for those who want it in that window rather than having to book mark the money for all.
Self Admin has a lot of benefits - the retailers like it when I go in with my card and pay up - the official voucher schemes charge for reimbursing the retailer - typically 10% which is why C2W vouchers can't be used on sale bikes. Bulk buying and no vouchers mean you can start talking discounts - especially if its with a few carefully chosen local retailers.
Having the cash flow upfront is beneficial and the employer benefits from the saved employer NIC contributions thus covering any of their costs. I can understand how its harder to get an employer on board if cash is tight.
Now is a great time - end of season sales if you can still get the right size bike. I have a few right now buying full-sus Giants and effectively getting £1500 (rrp) bikes for half price when all the savings are totted up. I'm also picking up a nice Scott Solace tomorrow. This is the fourth time we have run it now in about six years - and I've been in every time. First time around my card bill was £15k for the month - this time it will probably be £8k - it could have been more had I not curtailed some aspirations, but everyone is very happy.
What has been said about opening up for short time limited periods is good practice then you can easily control the start and end for payroll deductions. Whilst its good to open it to everyone (staff usually end up happier if they all feel equal - in all but pay - and C2W is a great thing to be able to offer) it can be beneficial to find reasons to exclude people. I have just played the ''full time employees only'' card as I heard a pee taker wanted a bike but he will shortly be let go - it wasn't happening. Equally - I would if needed use a one year minimum employment card as it does apply to other matters.
Sample paperwork is online. The £1k limit is due to credit law unless you have a licence - but .... Also bear in mind minimum wage requirements - our staff are hourly paid and their pay shows that, with the C2W shown on the opposite side as a taxable deduction.
My titanium road bike was obviously a bit more expensive but my Strava records would mean my C2W use is heavily supported. 3 miles to work and up to 40 on the way home. Not sure my colleagues could do the same with their full-sus bikes. But when you know of various government bodies - eg - local NHS - making up the rules as they go along - its a bit of an open ticket.
Some employers are known to remove car park permits from applicants - mostly where there is pressure on available spaces.
Sadly nobody seems to want a helmet - foolish but you can only promote them and the risks of what might happen. Some drivers seem to want to pass as close as possible - some for fun - others because the don't want to cross the white line even if there is no oncoming traffic. Also promote purchase of good lights.
Make sure you also cover security - we had one nicked but our CCTV soon pinpointed the culprit due to his funny walk - £800 bike sold for £25 to someone in a rough area 40 miles away - recovered in 24 hours luckily. Our lad could have been left very unhappy due to his failure to bring in his lock. We provide a good rack under cover to allow safe storage - although my bike is kept in the board room !
Having the cash flow upfront is beneficial and the employer benefits from the saved employer NIC contributions thus covering any of their costs. I can understand how its harder to get an employer on board if cash is tight.
Now is a great time - end of season sales if you can still get the right size bike. I have a few right now buying full-sus Giants and effectively getting £1500 (rrp) bikes for half price when all the savings are totted up. I'm also picking up a nice Scott Solace tomorrow. This is the fourth time we have run it now in about six years - and I've been in every time. First time around my card bill was £15k for the month - this time it will probably be £8k - it could have been more had I not curtailed some aspirations, but everyone is very happy.
What has been said about opening up for short time limited periods is good practice then you can easily control the start and end for payroll deductions. Whilst its good to open it to everyone (staff usually end up happier if they all feel equal - in all but pay - and C2W is a great thing to be able to offer) it can be beneficial to find reasons to exclude people. I have just played the ''full time employees only'' card as I heard a pee taker wanted a bike but he will shortly be let go - it wasn't happening. Equally - I would if needed use a one year minimum employment card as it does apply to other matters.
Sample paperwork is online. The £1k limit is due to credit law unless you have a licence - but .... Also bear in mind minimum wage requirements - our staff are hourly paid and their pay shows that, with the C2W shown on the opposite side as a taxable deduction.
My titanium road bike was obviously a bit more expensive but my Strava records would mean my C2W use is heavily supported. 3 miles to work and up to 40 on the way home. Not sure my colleagues could do the same with their full-sus bikes. But when you know of various government bodies - eg - local NHS - making up the rules as they go along - its a bit of an open ticket.
Some employers are known to remove car park permits from applicants - mostly where there is pressure on available spaces.
Sadly nobody seems to want a helmet - foolish but you can only promote them and the risks of what might happen. Some drivers seem to want to pass as close as possible - some for fun - others because the don't want to cross the white line even if there is no oncoming traffic. Also promote purchase of good lights.
Make sure you also cover security - we had one nicked but our CCTV soon pinpointed the culprit due to his funny walk - £800 bike sold for £25 to someone in a rough area 40 miles away - recovered in 24 hours luckily. Our lad could have been left very unhappy due to his failure to bring in his lock. We provide a good rack under cover to allow safe storage - although my bike is kept in the board room !
Edited by ClassicMercs on Thursday 25th August 00:17
Edited by ClassicMercs on Thursday 25th August 00:24
Have been reading into self Admin. It does look preferable, however, I'm not clear what happens after the 12 month hire from company period?
The schemes allow the employee to offset the depreciation and pay 7% at the end rather than 25% for the bike. How does that work when self administrating?
The schemes allow the employee to offset the depreciation and pay 7% at the end rather than 25% for the bike. How does that work when self administrating?
944fan said:
You don't have to offer it to everyone.
This seems to say otherwise. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...Magic919 said:
944fan said:
You don't have to offer it to everyone.
This seems to say otherwise. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...documentation said:
1) Who is eligible?
...
To qualify for the tax exemption, the cycles and cyclists' safety equipment loaned by the employer under the scheme must be available to employees generally with no groups of employees excluded.
...
To qualify for the tax exemption, the cycles and cyclists' safety equipment loaned by the employer under the scheme must be available to employees generally with no groups of employees excluded.
I set this up for one of my guys a year or so back -saved him a stack of cash/VAT/Tax/NI etc so happy bunny. Think he ended up with a £1200 bike for about £650 if I remember correctly. I'm pretty certain it does have to be offered to every employee though -my accountant told me that was definitely the case although for us it didnt make much odds as none of my other staff were interested.
we went through: www.cyclescheme.co.uk -very simple.
we went through: www.cyclescheme.co.uk -very simple.
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