laziness?

[alecstilleyedye]

i emailed the head oh hr yesterday, suggesting that with petrol prices on the rise, it might be worth looking again at setting up a bike to work scheme (might help recruit folk who find our attractive country location an expensive place to drive to).

co-incidentally, a chap who has just started commuting by mountain bike (and is now wanting a road bike) asked one of the hr people about it. their response was that they didn't think encouraging people to cycle was a good idea, as the road we're on is quite busy

or is it that she didn't fancy the paperwork? be interesting to see how the hr boss responds…

 

[Wolf04]

Our HR delayed it's implimentation because they were too busy!! They now run it for two months twice a year.

 

[Losidan]

Very suprised at that response....All companies want to be seen as green so that just flys in the face of it...

We have a version of bike to work and also car parking spaces reserved only for people who car share

 

[Trillian]

I can understand the company may not want to risk being held responsible for any incidents that happen to staff on bike to work acquired bikes on the road leading to the company's site

however, simply stating that outside of the company's premises the company is not responsible should be enough, surely?

but then some lawyer will argue that as the company technically owns the bike due to the BTW scheme then the company is partly responsible.

 

[mr_cellophane]

That is a ridiculous as all the parents who drive their kids to school because "the roads round the school are too busy".
If you all stopped driving and let the kids walk/cycle the roads would be safe and your kids healthier.

 

[biking_fox]

We're having a 6-12 month "evaluation of the feasability of implimenting various salary purchase schemes".

Quite why an evaluation is needed scince they ran several schemes a couple of years a go is beyond me. Hopefully sometime next year they'll manage to pick a Bike to Work scheme that isn't a total con.

 

[domtyler]

That is a ridiculous as all the parents who drive their kids to school because "the roads round the school are too busy".
If you all stopped driving and let the kids walk/cycle the roads would be safe and your kids healthier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma

 

[fossyant]

It's dragging it's feet where I am - our Bike User Group keep pushing, there is a Green Travel Policy, but it's taking time.

 

[andyfromotley]

Dont get me started..............
first conatcted em a year ago, thanks that sounds great we'll look into it....... nothing.
4 months ago contacted em again, got it to the head of occy health, i made a powerpoint presentation for them, nothing

Try conatcting her now she doesnt get back to me ....... FFS how hard can it be?

andy

 

[LOGAN 5]

My employer is totally uninterested in any bike scheme and they've said so. There's a large car park though and the managers who have these company cars get their London congestion charges plus petrol etc paid for the car to sit in the car park all day ready for the commute home.

 

[Riding in Circles]

If a company already has a cycle to work scheme, they can purchase the cycle from anywhere, there are no official approved suppliers despite what the likes of "Cyclescheme" would like you to believe, the actual paperwork involved is minimal and the credit license is already set up as a blanket license from the government, covering all companies who want to run a scheme. The limit is £1000 although any excess can be billed directly to the recipient.

The salary sacrifice is what makes it so attractive, the employer buys the cycle and claims the V.A.T. back immediately, the remaining cost is split into say 12 months rental and this monthly "fee" is taken as a cut in wage for the 12 months, the employee does not pay tax or NI on this cut and there is no tax to pay on the benefit of the cycle.

On a £1000 cycle assuming you earn about 15-18k per year you would sacrifice about £70 per month and this would pay for the cycle over the year, you will not pay the VAT and will save about £450 due to the VAT element plus the savings on income tax and NI.

At the end of the year the company can then sell you the cycle at what the inland revenue class as "fair market value" and for the scheme this is assessed as being equal to one months salary sacrifice, so in all you get a £1000 loan for which you repay £620 only after the savings.

The employer writes off 25-40% of the value of the cycle in the first year and the balance in the second year as the cycle has been sold on to you.

It is an excellent scheme, we have just sold our first trike on it, there are companies who would like you to believe that they are "approved" suppliers and that is is such a difficult thing to set up but in reality the bulk of the work has been done already as part of the green transport initiative and the cycle can be purchased from any supplier, I would ensure they are VAT registered however so make the most of it.

 

[summerdays]

The employer writes off 25-40% of the value of the cycle in the first year and the balance in the second year as the cycle has been sold on to you.

I thought there was no cost to the employer? (But I admit I'm not very knowledgeable about this.)

 

[Riding in Circles]

I thought there was no cost to the employer? (But I admit I'm not very knowledgeable about this.)

They purchase the cycle on your behalf and then right the cost off over two years, they also pay reduced employers NI contributions for the year as effectively your wage is less, in total they make a loss on the cycle on paper even though they have received payment by way of the salary sacrifice, the loss is offset against tax so everybody wins, except the taxman for a change.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

just had this reply back:

I completely take on board what you're saying but we have looked into
this previously and it wasn't something we pursued having looked into it
further from a health and safety point of view - the nature of Bonis
Hall Lane - as you well know - isn't conducive to safe cycling if you're
not used to it given the lack of cycle lanes and the speed of the
traffic.

Sorry

 

[Bollo]

just had this reply back:
....wrong-headed guff from hr ...

That reply is shocking! I'd be tempted to push this one. Say you're cycling in anyway. Ask them for the full H&S assessment, written of course. Ask them if they are aware of the stats (longer life, greater health vs risk of injury). Ask them if you are required to drive to work, as walking is, per mile, more dangerous than cycling which they have decided is too dangerous. In which case, ask them for a car, petrol, insurance etc as they're imposing the restriction. Its only fair. In general, make yourself a pain in the nipsy.

Reading this, I'm lucky. I work for a diddy IT company, so I went up to the MD and showed him the scheme details. He okayed it there and then. We run it all internally. I already had a commuter bike at the time, but a couple of other employees have taken advantage and, guess what, its freed up some very restricted parking for visiting customers. I've since had to replace it after a crash and there was no restriction on cost or supplier. A happy Bollo.