Info for employers

Cycling offers real benefits to employers such as freeing up valuable land for development, creating a healthier workforce, helping staff get to work more reliably, as well as helping the more general business climate through reducing congestion and pollution.

Large numbers of people already cycle to work. By doing so they do their employer, the local community and the environment a huge favour. They deserve to be looked after! Many more people would willingly cycle given better conditions and proper support at the workplace.

Become a cycle friendly employer

A cycle-friendly employer is an organisation that does more than simply tolerate cycling. It understands and values the benefits of cycling. It provides good facilities, offers support and encouragement, and actively promotes cycling amongst the workforce.

No organisation is perfect. Every organisation could do a little bit more to encourage cycling. Cycle-friendliness should be regarded as a journey, rather than a destination. And even the longest journey (as the saying goes) begins with a single step.

One large company, when asked why it was so keen to promote cycling, called its policy ‘enlightened self-interest’. The ‘enlightened’ bit is easy to understand:
 

• Bicycles are kind to the environment
• They are quiet and pollution-free.
• Cycling helps create safer, more neighbourly communities.
• Cycling is part of the solution to our traffic congestion problems.

And ‘self-interest’? Employers have a lot to gain from cycling:

• Regular cyclists tend to be fitter and healthier than non-cyclists. This contributes towards greater productivity and lower rates of absenteeism due to illness
• Bikes are nimble vehicles, able to squeeze past the queues and the road-works. So cyclists tend to be more punctual employees.
• People want to cycle. So why hold them back? Give cyclists the facilities and the support that they deserve and you get a happier and more motivated workforce.
• Be seen to be green. The media are interested in cycling stories.
• Being a cycle-friendly employer is a way of winning valuable publicity at relatively little cost.
• Impress your local authority. Increasingly, planning consent comes with strings attached – employers must develop Travel Plans. If you’re a cycle-friendly employer you’re well on the way to having a credible plan.

Getting started

Begin by talking! In most organisations the word ‘bicycle’ rarely gets a mention So, as a first step, you need to get cycling onto people’s agendas and make it a live issue.

Arrange meetings with relevant managers and senior staff. Be flexible and fit in with their schedules. Keep it brief - they’re busy people. Go into the meeting with a set of ideas and proposals both large- and small-scale. Suggest cheap, quick fixes as well as more expensive, long term schemes. Put the case for cycling firmly, but be prepared to listen and to make compromises. Take notes and record action points. Agree the outcome of the meeting, get a follow-up meeting into your diaries.

Who should you be talking to? Almost everyone! Key people include:

• Colleagues. Your organisation’s regular cyclists are obvious contacts. But see if you can identify occasional and potential cyclists too. If there is sufficient interest and enthusiasm amongst colleagues, you might consider forming a Bicycle User Group. Click here for more information about BUGs.
• Site Manager, Estates Manager, Buildings Manager, etc. These people look after your organisation’s infrastructure and are the people to talk to about bike parking, lockers, showers and other facilities.
• Public Affairs Officer, Press Officer. Make these people aware of cycling’s news value. Show them the sort of press coverage that other organisations have gained as a result of cycling initiatives.
• Human Resources Manager, Personnel Officer. The people who look after recruitment and employee welfare are likely to consider a commitment to cycling a valuable ‘selling feature’ when it comes to recruiting and retaining high quality staff.
• Environmental Officer. An obvious choice.
• Travel Planner. Another essential contact. Cycling has a key role to play in any organisation’s commuting strategy.
• Others.You will find support for cycling in all kinds of quarters. Take time to seek people out and raise the issue. Senior managers or directors that cycle (or who are at least sympathetic towards cycling) are worth their weight in gold!
• Local authorities. A valuable source of advice and support.
   

Cycle to work scheme

The government's cycle to work scheme came into operation on 1 January 2009.

The purposes of the scheme are:

• To encourage more employees to cycle to and from work
• To contribute to lowering carbon emissions
• To help reduce traffic congestion
• To help improve health and fitness levels.

Benefit-in-kind exemption

Under the scheme, an employer may provide an employee with a bicycle and/or cycle equipment without the employee being liable for benefit-in-kind taxation.

The scheme may also be implemented under a salary sacrifice arrangement through the employee’s payroll (in a similar manner to the existing Travel Pass Scheme).  Under such an arrangement, the employer provides the bicycle and/or  equipment to the employee who agrees to forego or sacrifice part of his or her salary every pay period (weekly/fortnightly/monthly as the case may be), in order to cover the cost of the benefit.  The full cost must be recovered within a maximum period of twelve months and the salary sacrifice will be reflected in the employee’s pay over that period.

Benefits for employee and employer

Because the bicycle and/or equipment are exempt from tax, the employee will not be liable to income tax at his or her marginal rate, employee’s PRSI, or levies on the cost of the benefit, as reflected in the amount of salary sacrificed.

The employer will also benefit in that employer’s PRSI is not payable on the cost of the bicycle and/or safety equipment.

Employers will not be able to reclaim the VAT paid on the bicycle and/or safety equipment.

Participation

Participation in the scheme is voluntary for employers.  However, when an employer agrees to participate, he or she must make the scheme generally available, on an equal basis, to all employees requesting it.

There are no in built restrictions in the scheme regarding where the bicycle and associated safety equipment can be purchased. This is a matter for employers as they will be purchasing the bicycles and safety equipment in all instances.

Qualifying journeys

The bicycle must be used by the employee mainly for qualifying journeys. This means the whole or part (e.g. between home and train station) of a journey between the employee’s or director’s home and normal place of work, or between his or her normal place of work and another place of work. While an employer will not be required to monitor the use of the bicycle/safety equipment, the employer will be required to obtain a signed statement from the employee or director that the bicycle is for his or her own use and will be used mainly for qualifying journeys

Types of bicycles and equipment

The exemption will cover pedal bicycles and tricycles, and pedelecs (an electrically assisted bicycle which requires some effort on the part of the cyclist in order to effect propulsion). It will not cover motorbikes, scooters or mopeds.

The following equipment will be covered by the exemption:

• Cycle helmets which conform to European standard EN 1078
• Bells and bulb horns
• Lights, including dynamo packs
• Mirrors and mudguards
• Cycle clips and dress guards
• Panniers, luggage carriers and straps to allow luggage to be safely carried
• Locks and chains to ensure cycle can be safely secured
• Pumps, puncture repair kits, cycle tool kits and tyre sealant to allow for minor repairs
• Reflective clothing along with white front reflectors and spoke reflectors.

Conditions

1. The bicycles and/or safety equipment must be purchased by the employer.
2. The tax exempt benefit-in-kind for the bicycle and safety equipment will only apply where the employee agrees to use the bicycle to cycle to and from work or between workplaces.
3. The tax exempt benefit-in-kind will be limited to €1,000.  Where the cost exceeds this amount, a BIK charge will apply to the balance.  
4. Under any salary sacrifice arrangement, the cost of the bicycle and/or safety equipment must be paid within twelve months.
5. The tax exempt benefit-in-kind may only be provided to an individual employee once in a five year period.
6. Electric bikes (also known as 'pedelecs') are eligibile for the scheme; including a bicycle or tricycle which is equipped with an auxiliary electric motor having a maximum continuous rated power of 0.25 kilowatts, of which output is progressively reduced and finally cut off as the vehicle reaches a speed of 25 kilometres per hour, or sooner if the cyclist stops pedalling
7. Employees should note that if they avail of the scheme for even a small amount of expenditure relating to the provision of bicycles and/or safety equipment, they will not be able to avail of it again for five years.
8. It is not envisaged, at this stage, that there will be a notification process involved but the purchase of bicycles and associated safety equipment by employers for employees will be subject to the normal Revenue audit procedure with the normal obligations on employers to maintain records (e.g. invoices, salary sacrifice agreements between employer and employee, such agreements to include a statement from employees that the bicycle/bicycle safety equipment is for their own use and will be used for travelling to and from work).

Next step: Download an Info Pack.