Encouraging your employees to leave the car at home and travel via greener alternatives such as cycling and walking has a host of benefits both for individual health and for your organisation.

What Are The Benefits?

Reduces Emissions

The average person making a daily car commute of four miles each way would save 0.5 tonnes of CO2, or 6% of their annual footprint, by switching to cycling or foot travel. Implementing a cycle to work scheme is an excellent way to curb your employees transport emissions, by purchasing a new bicycle to be repaid in regular installments from their salary. Click here to learn more about Cyclescheme, one of the UK’s most popular programme providers.

Saves Money

Implementing a cycle to work scheme is a tax-efficient benefit, where salary sacrifices are deducted from employees gross salary rather than net earnings and not subject to income tax or national insurance. Employees will also save on transportation costs, parking and vehicle upkeep by reducing their car journeys to and from work. 

Healthier Staff

Employees who cycle to work experience a lower rate of all-cause mortality and see a positive effect on emotional health, with improved levels of wellbeing, self-confidence and tolerance to stress. Investing in the welfare of your employees will not only reduce your organisation’s environmental footprint, but leave you with fitter, happier, healthier and more productive staff.

Are you an employer interested in participating in our upcoming workplace scheme? Click here to register your interest in The Cleaner Air Challenge, a competition-based programme to incentivize green commuting alternatives.

Can’t Walk or Cycle?

Choosing electric alternatives is another way to make the commute greener for those that are unable to walk or cycle. Electric and hybrid cars not only drastically reduce the amount of toxic chemicals and particles being pumped into the air, but they are an investment which will save the owner substantial money in the long-run.

As an employer, could you consider an Employee Car Ownership Scheme for hybrids or electric vehicles? Company car tax is charged as a percentage of list price based on the vehicle’s CO2 emissions; the more polluting a car is, the higher the rate charged. This is therefore a positive incentive for the employee to choose a car with lower emissions to minimise their taxation.