laziness?

[alecstilleyedye]

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.

i have been commuting for the last 2 years. given that the company has a free health roadshow each year, i can prove that cycling to work has lost me 11kg in weight, 10% bmi and halved my cholesterol. i'm still waiting to have any incident of significance on my daily (and i mean daily, not just summer) commute.

 

[Bollo]

That's what I mean. I know the stats are dodgy but it might be worth finding out if anyone has had a car accident to or from work in the last two years. Just for devilment.

Just looking at that HR reply, what do they mean by the bit "Bonis Hill lane - as well you know - ...."? All you know is that you've cycled in for two years without an incident. I think they can't be harsed, pure and simple.

 

[Smeggers]

eek, so from an ambulance chasing point of view...

1) They've done a risk assessment of Bonis Hall Lane.
2) Ruled out a Cycle to Work Scheme on the strength of the risk assesement.
3) Are fully aware you already use Bonis Hall Lane
4) Are happy to let you continue?!

Thought of "accidentally" falling off on Bonis Hall Lane Alecs?!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

eek, so from an ambulance chasing point of view...

1) They've done a risk assessment of Bonis Hall Lane.
2) Ruled out a Cycle to Work Scheme on the strength of the risk assesement.
3) Are fully aware you already use Bonis Hall Lane
4) Are happy to let you continue?!

not to mention the fact that this place is otherwise a very bike-friendly place - bike shed, showers and changing rooms. there are more cyclists here than at this time last year too…

 

[Wolf04]

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.

From my employers scheme:
For example: An employee earning £25,000 per annum, who is a member of the University pension scheme, chooses equipment to the value of £600. Under the Hire Agreement, monthly deductions from gross pay are £50 per month. The approximate saving will be £15 per month ie net pay will be reduced by only £35 (approximately). In this example the total repayment costs will amount to around £420, a saving of approximately 30%, depending on individual circumstances.

Interestingly they have also just applied the salary sacrifice to our pension scheme again resulting in reduced National Insurance and therefore more take home pay.

 

[Riding in Circles]

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.[/QUOTE

From my employers scheme:
For example: An employee earning £25,000 per annum, who is a member of the University pension scheme, chooses equipment to the value of £600. Under the Hire Agreement, monthly deductions from gross pay are £50 per month. The approximate saving will be £15 per month ie net pay will be reduced by only £35 (approximately). In this example the total repayment costs will amount to around £420, a saving of approximately 30%, depending on individual circumstances.

Interestingly they have also just applied the salary sacrifice to our pension scheme again resulting in reduced National Insurance and therefore more take home pay.

What about the VAT element?

 

[fossyant]

Universities can't reclaim VAT....this example refers to a Uni.

 

[Wolf04]

not to mention the fact that this place is otherwise a very bike-friendly place - bike shed, showers and changing rooms. there are more cyclists here than at this time last year too…

I think the thread title says it all, they just can't be arsed! I'd follow Bollo's suggestion about asking for H&S assessments, but don't mention his crash

 

[marinyork]

To counteract the busy road aspect of it you could get your helmet cam/borrow someones and e-mail the Head of HR a video of that bit of your commute ?

 

[fossyant]

Bonis Hall Lane - not exactly that busy is it - what about the main road from Macc to Poynton.....????

For those who don't know the area, it's pretty rural - the lane is a bit of a cut through for the 4x4 folk living in stockbroker Prestbury, but it's not exactly busy, say compared to a suburban road....

 

[Riding in Circles]

Universities can't reclaim VAT....this example refers to a Uni.

Pity.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

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.

You at the University as well, then? They currently run another Salary Sacrifice scheme (Nursery Vouchers) which would, I imagine, require similar administrative burden... unsure what the delay is with the new schemes though!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Bonis Hall Lane - not exactly that busy is it - what about the main road from Macc to Poynton.....????

For those who don't know the area, it's pretty rural - the lane is a bit of a cut through for the 4x4 folk living in stockbroker Prestbury, but it's not exactly busy, say compared to a suburban road....

quite right, although the turn in to bonis hall, coming from the adlington end, does require a bit of caution, as it's on a bend. that said, when the farmer across the roads cuts the grass, i have a better view than i would in a car.

actually it is quite busy, but because of this it is safer to ride. with traffic queued up on the opposite side of the road, i claim primary to prevent being squeezed. makes the right turn less hazardous too.