Travel

The cycle-to-work scheme is a tax and National Insurance free scheme, set up by the Government and the Department for Transport to help promote healthier journeys to work, and reduce pollution and congestion.

Staff are able to buy a bike and cycle equipment from Oxford Brookes, costing up to £3,000, via our Cycle-to-Work hire purchase scheme. A minimum spend of £100 also applies. 

You then pay back this cost via a salary sacrifice arrangement, where an agreed monthly payment is deducted from your pay. To support accessibility and affordability, payments can be made to Brookes over a 12-month or 24-month period.   

Paying for your bike through salary sacrifice provides tax and national insurance savings on the cost of the bike and equipment, as the repayment is deducted from your gross salary. 

Further information about the scheme is available on the Halfords website.

To apply for the scheme, please access the MyLifestyle Hub.

Eligible staff can apply for the scheme at any time and a voucher (letter of collection) will be sent to your chosen email address for use online or in-store.  

You are able to purchase a bike and related equipment up to the value of £3,000 and no less than £100.  

A full list of equipment that can be purchased via this scheme is available on the Halfords website.

To ensure that the scheme successfully benefits staff and offers affordability, the following eligibility criteria apply:

Employment and pay

• As this is a salary sacrifice scheme, staff must be paid via the University’s main payroll. 
• Individuals engaged on a claim or variable hour basis are therefore unable to apply. 
• Fixed-term staff are able to apply, as long as the duration of the employment contract exceeds the duration of the agreement. 

(For example, 13 months for a 12-month repayment period or 25 months for a 24 month repayment period.) 

• Staff must have successfully passed their probation. 
• The scheme is open to full and part-time staff. 
• To support staff to reasonably make repayments and to ensure that pay is not reduced below the National Minimum Wage or Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance Contributions, Oxford Brookes may limit the purchase amount available e.g to less than £3,000.
• Staff who are currently in the formal or informal stage of a disciplinary or capability process or who have been placed “at risk” of redundancy, may not apply for this scheme.  

Use

• Staff should be able to show that the bike will be used to commute to work (Government guidelines state it should be used for at least 50% of your commute to work.)

Please note: The University reserves the right to amend or discontinue this benefit, should it deem it appropriate.

Please go to the MyLifestyle Benefits Hub to place an order. This will direct you to the Oxford Brookes Halfords page, where you will be asked to input your details. Information will also be provided in relation to repayment amounts. 

Please ensure that you read the terms and conditions provided here, as well as the FAQs section.

A letter of collection is the voucher provided by Halfords that can be used to purchase your chosen bike and/or equipment. 

Vouchers can also be used at independent cycle stores. A store locator is provided on the Halfords webpage, to help you to identify local stores participating in the scheme.  

The voucher will be emailed to you, once your application has been approved by Halfords and the People Directorate.

During the duration of the salary sacrifice agreement, the bike and any equipment remain the property of Oxford Brookes. 

To ensure that you are able to benefit from the Tax and NI savings, Halfords will contact you after 12 months to confirm if you wish to enter a zero-cost extended hire arrangement at no extra cost, until HMRC deem the value to be negligible. (This is typically for four to five years.)

Any arrangements made with Halfords after this 12-month period will be the subject of a separate agreement, and will not alter the terms and conditions of the salary sacrifice agreement with Oxford Brookes. 

For example, if you have agreed to pay the cost of the bike over a two-year period, this remains unaffected. 

If your employment ends for any reason (including redundancy) during the repayment period, the University will deduct the remaining balance from your final payslip. 

If the outstanding amount is larger than your last month of pay, you will be required to pay the difference. 

This amount will also be deducted after tax and National Insurance deductions. The scheme savings will therefore not apply.  Please email Jess McGinn, Reward and Progression Partner, at payandreward@brookes.ac.uk for further information. 

Salary Sacrifice Schemes can affect other benefits that you might receive, including statutory maternity/paternity/adoption pay. Staff are responsible for contacting HMRC and researching the impact of the scheme on their financial circumstances, prior to entering any agreement.

Oxford Brookes also provides an interest-free loan that enables staff to purchase a bike. 

Once you have agreed to a salary sacrifice arrangement for the bike and equipment, as per HMRC rules, you do not have the option to revert back to your original salary until the arrangement has ended. Please email Jess McGinn, Reward and Progression Partner, at payandreward@brookes.ac.uk for further information.

It is the employee's responsibility to insure and maintain the bicycle adequately. In the event that the bike is damaged or stolen, the salary sacrifice arrangement remains unaffected and you are required to continue payment.