Can my work refuse cycle to work??

andy83

Currently my company dont advertise about cycle to work but am trying to get them to agree, found a lovely trek bike i just couldnt afford otherwise

now the thing is can they actually refuse to do it?? been told by someone is a government thing and work cant refuse

any help appreciated

always_tyred

They have no obligation to participate.

Budget for full price and hope for a pleasant surprise.

Electricpics

It's entirely up to the company if they participate or not. Some companies don't have much VAT involved in their business and that could end up costing them money. The initiative is the same as the Home Computing Initiative the government started a few years ago, and then abruptly pulled the plug, which could easily happen to this deal. Best approach IMO is to provide your company with as much information as possible and try and make sure they have all the facts.

andy83

thanks for that

have sent a link from cyclescheme to the relevant person at head office so just waiting to here now.

if they do refuse then i will just say how im doing a chairty bike ride for some of the people at work and need a new bike lol

Mikelyons

Hi Andy

yes, they can refuse to do it.
The place where I work don't do it even though they employ over 100,000 world-wide.

(I don't actually work FOR them, I'm a contractor)

Part of the reason is that their existing payroll system doesn't manage salary sacrifice very well, so they are waiting until a new system is installed next year.

If you can get hold of the Evans 'Ride-to-work' information off their website, they had some information which was tailored towards the employer.

See - http://www.evanscycles.com/ride2work/the-benefits

One positive reason for an employer to offer the scheme is that they will also make a saving on the employers national insurance that would have been paid on any salary sacrifice.

If your employer doesn't pay VAT (e.g. a Charity) then they can't reclaim the VAT paid on bikes & savings to you would be lower, but still worthwhile.


HTH
Mike

edhornby

also, the companies have to put the money up front and a lot of businesses don't have the chunk of money to lash out on bikes compared to all the other things that need cash...

iain_j

edhornby wrote:

also, the companies have to put the money up front and a lot of businesses don't have the chunk of money to lash out on bikes compared to all the other things that need cash...

That was the reason my place gave too, despite major interest in the scheme on an intranet poll. I work the for the police, so a lot of the facilities are in place already at the police stations - secure parking, changing and showering facilities - but it's the initial outlay for the bikes that's the problem.

Electricpics

iain_j wrote:

edhornby wrote:

also, the companies have to put the money up front and a lot of businesses don't have the chunk of money to lash out on bikes compared to all the other things that need cash...

That was the reason my place gave too, despite major interest in the scheme on an intranet poll. I work the for the police, so a lot of the facilities are in place already at the police stations - secure parking, changing and showering facilities - but it's the initial outlay for the bikes that's the problem.

I have a lot of mates in Northumbria Police and they've recently gone with CycleScheme with a big take-up. A few tens of thousand quid outlay hasn't been a problem for them.

The Chingford Skinhead

I'm putting together a business case for my employer. The DfT and Cyclescheme websites have info for employers as well as employees. I'd go for cyclescheme rather than Halfords or Evans etc.

Cyclescheme supports local shops. You are far more likely to build up a relationship with a local retailer and therefore keep your bike maintained etc than if you go to a national supplir or bodge-job chain store.

The cash up front argument is a load of honk for public sector organisations like the police. The salary sacrafice scheme ensures the money is repaid and cash isn't important - the salary sacrafice ensures that the books balance for accounting purposes.

defyrider

have been trying since february for my nhs employer to join the scheme, have now given up and ordered a new bike anyway.

andrewc3142

Mine doesn't, even though it's a large business. Apparently, the minimal admin required is too much hassle, even though I offered to put everything together myself as far as I could. So I just paid full price for my Condor.

andy83

Thanks for replies

have sent head office the info from cyclescheme and hoping they will do it

all good and well saying just get what you can but without the scheme i cant afford a new bike, not what i want anyway

just awaiting their response but manager doesnt see why they wont do it.

thought it was piad for by coming out my wages, not them paying a chunk up front? surely they would want to look good as a company

Rockhopper

Your company pays Cyclescheme ( or whoever) the money, Cyclescheme issue the voucher which you take to the bike shop to swap for your bike then your company recovers the money from your salary.