National cycle to work scheme
We have teamed up with Cyclescheme to provide tax free bikes for work.
You give up part of your salary in exchange for a bicycle and equipment. This is known as a salary sacrifice arrangement.
Because these payments are made from your gross salary, you effectively pay no tax or national insurance on the value of the bike.
To be eligible, you must:
- be a permanent Essex County Council (ECC) employee and have passed your probation
- use your bike to get to work for more than 50% of your home to work journeys
Things to consider
By choosing this benefit, you are agreeing to a salary sacrifice arrangement which will result in a reduction to your contractual pay. This is used to calculate things such as sick pay, maternity pay and redundancy pay.
You should consider whether this change will take you below the National Minimum Wage and whether it will affect your entitlement to state benefits.
How the scheme works
The cost of buying the bike is spread equally over 12 months. When this ends, you can keep your Cyclescheme package by making a small additional payment.
The minimum period you can join the scheme for is 12 months.
Your pension contributions will not be affected.
If you leave before repaying the whole of the loan, you will need to pay back any outstanding loan payments. This will be deducted from your last month’s pay.
Visit the Cyclescheme site to find out more about how it works.
Apply
- Make sure you’ve read all of the above information and the Cyclescheme frequently asked questions
- Find your local bike shop and choose a bike
- Visit the Cyclescheme website to apply
Contact the Travel Plan team
You can contact the Travel Plan team by:
- email: travelplanteam@essex.gov.uk
- phone: 0845 603 7631