Cycle to Work still ranks in top 10 of employee benefits

New research has found that the Cycle to Work scheme features in 11.5% of job listings that included employee benefits* in the description.

The research, carried out by card payment provider Paymentsense, analysed over 647,000* job adverts to discover the most commonly advertised employee benefits promoted by UK businesses, aiming to highlight that benefits a company offers its staff can be ‘make or break’ for many current or prospective employees, in particular as the Pandemic caused a shift in working habits.

Jon Knott, Head of Customer Insights at Paymentsense commented: “The workplace benefits offered by companies are becoming increasingly important across the world as new ways of working and employee needs change and evolve.

As a result of Covid-19, it is estimated that 42% of companies are planning to significantly improve their benefit programmes as offering a good salary on its own isn’t enough anymore – more and more workers are looking for benefits that make working somewhere worth it.

The benefits offered by a company can make a huge difference to an employee’s wellbeing, productivity and loyalty. This ultimately benefits the company too as it will help attract and retain staff, whilst building a positive and rewarding culture.”

Whilst the scheme is considered by government to be a success, there are a number of challenges to way it is delivered and administered.

The most loudly objected part of the scheme, from an end retailer viewpoint, is the commission charged by certain voucher providers, which can be as being as much as 15% making it commercially unviable to sell some bikes via a Cycle to Work voucher.

Another challenge, and ongoing critique of the scheme: As it stands the legislation has been somewhat exclusive and, arguably, more beneficial to higher earners; arguably those needing financial assistance least. With this in mind, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak received a letter co-signed by the Federation of Small Businesses, British Cycling, the Co-Op and the Cycle to Work Alliance, calling for a reform of the salary sacrifice scheme to become more relevant to lower earners and the self-employed.

In a 2021 Cycle to Work Alliance study it was found that 33% of employees who had not previously participated in the scheme said this was because their income was too low. A further 1 in 10 of these said it was because they were self-employed, meaning they could not access the scheme.

In the current economic climate, with the Financial Times reporting that over 1 million people reported to have switched to bikes and buses to reduce transport costs, a significant number of people who would immediately benefit from owning a bike are excluded from accessing the scheme.