Company bike leasing: Advantages and disadvantages for the company

Cycling to work on a company bike – more and more employees are finding such an offer attractive. In this practical tip, you can find out about the advantages and disadvantages of company bike leasing for a company.

Business bike leasing: These are the advantages

More and more companies are offering their employees an e-bike or high-quality bicycle as a company bike. Over 250,000 employees are already on the road with a leased bike – and the trend is rising. As with car leasing, the monthly instalment is deducted from the monthly gross salary through salary conversion.

• Health: You do something for your health if you cycle a lot. The back and neck muscles are strengthened and pain is prevented. As an entrepreneur, you benefit from fitter and more balanced employees. According to various studies, employees who cycle regularly are sick 1.4 days less on average.

• Motivation: Sporting activities reduce stress. This promotes mental and emotional well-being and thus ensures more motivation and increased performance among employees in the company. This in turn can have a positive impact on the working atmosphere.

• Brand ambassador: Companies can easily brand the bikes with the company logo, making the cycling employee a brand ambassador.

• Incentive for employees: Whoever offers their employees the option of leasing a bicycle sets themselves apart from other employers. Especially in times of a shortage of skilled workers, this can attract one or two new employees – a good alternative to a salary increase.

• Environmentally friendly: If you leave your car behind and cycle to work, you are doing something for the environment. This also applies to companies that offer their employees a CO₂-friendly alternative to the company car.

• Time saving: Employees who travel by company bike do not have to slog through rush hour traffic and are thus on time to work.

• Tax advantages: With a bike lease, businesses can deduct the cost of the bike, such as maintenance, repair or interest, from business expenses.

• Cost calculation: The company can set a price range with the leasing partner. In this way, overpriced leasing rates can be avoided.

Disadvantages of leasing a bicycle

Duty bike leasing has some disadvantages too.

• High administrative burden: Processing and managing leasing contracts takes time.

• Reductions in pension insurance and co.: Many trade unions criticise that the salary conversion in a leasing contract reduces the employee’s assessment basis for sickness, unemployment and parental benefits. Such salary conversion also has an impact on pension contributions.

• Contractual uncertainties: What happens if the employee who leases a company bike quits? Are you, as the entrepreneur, left with the costs? For such cases it is important to contractually regulate corresponding scenarios in advance.

• Insurance cover: When leasing a company bike, it is important to have comprehensive insurance cover – ideally including fully comprehensive insurance. For companies, this means that they have to find out in advance exactly what the benefits and exclusions are – for example, whether an e-bike has to be secured against theft with a special lock. This is an additional expense that costs time.