Cycle to work salary sacrifice scheme
A salary sacrifice arrangement is an agreement to reduce an employee's entitlement to cash pay, usually in return for a non-cash benefit. The 'sacrifice' is achieved by varying an employee’s terms and conditions of employment relating to pay. Salary sacrifice is a matter of employment law, not tax law. Where an employee agrees to a salary sacrifice in return for a non-cash benefit, they give up their contractual right to future cash remuneration.
Under a salary sacrifice scheme, the council allows you to purchase a bike and safety equipment items under a salary sacrifice arrangement. This means that your monthly gross salary will be reduced, resulting in an initial saving on tax and National Insurance.
The limit for the Cycle to Work Scheme is £4,000 subject to affordability.
You choose a bike and any accessories through our provider Vivup. You loan these for an agreed length of time and exchange a set amount of your salary each month during the loan period. Reductions are made to your gross salary, so you can make savings on Income Tax and National Insurance contributions, where applicable.
Deductions will typically begin the month following application. When your Hire Agreement and salary exchange ends, you can keep your package by making a small additional payment (sometimes known as a Disposal Fee) back to Vivup.
The cycle to work scheme is open to both full and part-time staff including school staff, however, you must meet the criteria outlined below.
These criteria will be checked by Payroll/People Services before any salary sacrifice orders are approved.
You need to be a permanent and paid employee, or, if you are on a fixed-term contract, your contract of employment must be for a longer period than the proposed Salary Sacrifice Agreement.
Your gross salary after taking into account all salary sacrifice arrangements must be above the National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage for the duration of the Salary Sacrifice Agreement.
Overtime and any additional payments you may receive should not be included when you enter your gross annual salary into the online site unless it is contractual and guaranteed.
If you leave the council, the outstanding debt could be recovered in your final salary.
The salary sacrifice repayment period can be either for a 12 or 18 month term.
Your pension contributions are based on your entire salary. Therefore, your pension and related benefits will not change due to the exchange.
Access Vivup via the app or web at vivup.co.uk and register with your corporate or personal email address and pay reference number. The limit for the Cycle to Work Scheme is £4,000 subject to affordability.
Go to the cycle to work section and choose a bike by:
Browsing the online bikes for home delivery - a huge range of electric, hybrid, and mountain bikes are available.
Finding a specific shop - choose a bike from retailers covering Decathlon, Cycle Solutions, Evans and local independents. Ordering this way means collecting from your local store.
Further details on how to do this can be found on vivup.co.uk.