As mentioned previously, all of the current concern about driving with high fuel costs has seen a surge of interest in alternative travel modes, including more people looking at buying new bikes. But what if you might struggle to afford a new bicycle, especially the more high-end ones like e-bikes? Well it might be that you can get your employer to help you out…
Let me introduce you to a scheme that has been running for a few years now, called WorkRide. The impetus for this was the previous Government’s removal in 2023 of Fringe Benefit Tax from bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters where they were being used for commuting and/or work. Some of our readers may recall that this followed a concerted campaign and submissions on this in 2022.
The upshot of this was the introduction of the WorkRide scheme, allowing employers who signed up to purchase a bike for a staff member and lease it to them for 12 months while they pay back the cost of it via “salary sacrifice”, after which staff can elect to hang onto the bike via “gifting”. The finance stuff gets a little technical but, suffice to say, thanks to avoiding tax implications of PAYE and ACC levies, effectively staff end up with a discounted bike – potentially up to 30-60% off the quoted price.
At our company (ViaStrada), we’ve had two staff who have elected to use WorkRide to purchase new commuter bikes (nice electric ones in each case) and then paid them off over the following year. One of the challenges of making this work has been the upfront purchase cost by the employer of the new bike, which then slowly gets paid back – that can potentially be a bit of a financial hit initially. However, there is now a new WorkRide Plus scheme that allows employers to pay 12 monthly installments instead, helping to smooth the cashflow.
To date, there are about 2000 employers, local councils, and government organisations that have signed up to the WorkRide programme, and over 250 bike retailers who have signed onto the programme as well. So:
- If you are an employee, see if your employer is already a WorkRide member and, if they’re not, encourage them to join. Then find a bike you like…
- If you are an employer, have a look into the details of how WorkRide operates, and consider signing onto the programme. Then talk to your staff…
Has your company or organisation started using WorkRide?