Bike to Work scheme - the Megathread - Read post #1 before posting

godtabh · 09-02-2021 5:15pm

Our HR is based in the UK? They dont understand Ireland is in a different country. Is there a pro forma around anywhere that I could send them?

cletus · 09-02-2021 5:22pm

nihicib2 wrote: »

Hi all

Im an SNA and would like to get an electric bike through this scheme, has anyone dealt with the Dept. Of Ed. before and has anyone an idea of how long it takes them to put the application through? I got an invoice from Halfords for a bike that I like but the problem is the nearest store to me is closing down on March 11th and the next nearest store is over two hours drive away, which I don't want to be doing obviously. I just don't want to put this through this week if there's going to be a long delay in processing it and problems then if the actual store is closed if it is late coming through.

Thanks

I'm a teacher, and have used the bike to work scheme. What type of school do you work in, I'm in an ETB (formerly a VEC), and I would have dealt with payroll in that office, rather than directly with the Dept. Of Ed

colbarr · 10-02-2021 2:10pm

Applied for BTW through Travelhub.ie and it was approved by my employer on Monday afternoon. It's current status since then is "awaiting invoice generation". Is this done by Travelhub, or the bike shop? A quick browse through this thread and I'm seeing most people have this sorted fairly quickly (2 days). Should I be contacting anyone at this stage to speed things up?

MJohnston · 10-02-2021 2:14pm

colbarr wrote: »

Applied for BTW through Travelhub.ie and it was approved by my employer on Monday afternoon. It's current status since then is "awaiting invoice generation". Is this done by Travelhub, or the bike shop? A quick browse through this thread and I'm seeing most people have this sorted fairly quickly (2 days). Should I be contacting anyone at this stage to speed things up?

Did you supply a bike shop invoice (or invoice details) in TravelHub when you were applying?

colbarr · 10-02-2021 2:26pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Did you supply a bike shop invoice (or invoice details) in TravelHub when you were applying?

I wasn't given the option to do that. I have a bike shop invoice in PDF format, but there wasn't anywhere to upload it. And there's still no option at present.

MJohnston · 10-02-2021 2:29pm

colbarr wrote: »

I wasn't given the option to do that. I have a bike shop invoice in PDF format, but there wasn't anywhere to upload it. And there's still no option at present.

Hmmm, I did this late last year, and I'm almost certain I had to enter the bike cost details on application. Regardless, that's the first step in the process, so you'll have to find some way to enter the invoice details.

colbarr · 10-02-2021 2:37pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Hmmm, I did this late last year, and I'm almost certain I had to enter the bike cost details on application. Regardless, that's the first step in the process, so you'll have to find some way to enter the invoice details.

Sorry, there was an option to put in the bike details and cost, and a quotation number. But the guy in the bike shop generated and printed off the invoice and gave it to me, saying they require that along with the Travelhub form. But I didn't see anywhere that I could upload those forms.

CramCycle · 10-02-2021 2:37pm

EDIT: Replying to wrong post

MJohnston wrote: »

Hmmm, I did this late last year, and I'm almost certain I had to enter the bike cost details on application. Regardless, that's the first step in the process, so you'll have to find some way to enter the invoice details.

Yep, I done mine about 2 months ago and there was a place to enter it on the website, the poster is the one who has to put it in, They never asked for the invoice though, just the amount in a text box.

MJohnston · 10-02-2021 2:42pm

colbarr wrote: »

Sorry, there was an option to put in the bike details and cost, and a quotation number. But the guy in the bike shop generated and printed off the invoice and gave it to me, saying they require that along with the Travelhub form. But I didn't see anywhere that I could upload those forms.

Okay, well you should be sorted on your end then. I'm not sure what "awaiting invoice generation" means exactly, but there's a lot of back and forth between TravelHub and your employer before you'll get the payment to give to the bike shop (or before it's sent directly to the bike shop, depends on each case).

The whole thing usually takes weeks, unfortunately. Keep leaning on your employers' benefits or finance person for the Bike to Work scheme, as they could do it a lot faster if they felt like it (though your company may have some particular finance rules or processes which a lower limit on how quick it can be).

colbarr · 10-02-2021 2:57pm

Cheers for the help. I've contacted TravelHub to see what the next steps are anyway. I'll post them here for future reference.

adrian522 · 11-02-2021 12:56pm

Does anyone know if Decathlon will accept the one4all vouchers? No mention of it on their website so I'm not confident.

Our company will only issue these vouchers for the bike to work scheme or else will deal with Halfords or Cycle super store.

grogi · 11-02-2021 12:59pm

adrian522 wrote: »

Does anyone know if Decathlon will accept the one4all vouchers? No mention of it on their website so I'm not confident.

Our company will only issue these vouchers for the bike to work scheme or else will deal with Halfords or Cycle super store.

One4all voucher does not qualify you for the scheme. Employer cannot simply give you prepaid card

adrian522 · 11-02-2021 1:18pm

grogi wrote: »

One4all voucher does not qualify you for the scheme. Employer cannot simply give you prepaid card

That's their method of buying the bike, I'm asking if anyone knows if Decathlon accept these cards?

loyatemu · 11-02-2021 1:23pm

adrian522 wrote: »

That's their method of buying the bike, I'm asking if anyone knows if Decathlon accept these cards?

they don't

https://www.one4all.ie/retailer.html

breezy1985 · 19-02-2021 2:16pm

If my employer doesn't do the cycle to work scheme am I basically screwed or is there some way to avail of the tax back direct from revenue ?

iwillhtfu · 19-02-2021 2:22pm

breezy1985 wrote: »

If my employer doesn't do the cycle to work scheme am I basically screwed or is there some way to avail of the tax back direct from revenue ?

In short you're screwed

It has to go through your employer as cost is deducted through payroll.

CramCycle · 19-02-2021 2:56pm

They don't have to use a 3rd party though, they can just buy the bike and deduct it off gross pay, which is not a huge amount of work.

GrumpyMe · 19-02-2021 2:59pm

CramCycle wrote: »

They don't have to use a 3rd party though, they can just buy the bike and deduct it off gross pay, which is not a huge amount of work.

Or just buy the bike and don't deduct it from pay at all, even less work.;)

iwillhtfu · 19-02-2021 3:02pm

CramCycle wrote: »

They don't have to use a 3rd party though, they can just buy the bike and deduct it off gross pay, which is not a huge amount of work.

I assume he means they don't do the cycle to work scheme at all as opposed to using the bike to work voucher scheme

breezy1985 · 19-02-2021 3:04pm

iwillhtfu wrote: »

I assume he means they don't do the cycle to work scheme at all as opposed to using the bike to work voucher scheme

They don't do any kind of scheme for bicycles

MJohnston · 19-02-2021 3:05pm

breezy1985 wrote: »

They don't do any kind of scheme for bicycles

Have they outright said that they won't do it for you?

iwillhtfu · 19-02-2021 3:07pm

breezy1985 wrote: »

They don't do any kind of scheme for bicycles

They're not obliged to unfortunately it's purely at your employers discretion. have you actually asked or did someone just say they don't do it. It might be worth asking the right people

breezy1985 · 19-02-2021 3:08pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Have they outright said that they won't do it for you?

Ya. I'm full time but it is an agency so I'm not surprised

MJohnston · 19-02-2021 4:14pm

breezy1985 wrote: »

Ya. I'm full time but it is an agency so I'm not surprised

Unfortunately your employer is the only route available to you for this.

breezy1985 · 19-02-2021 4:40pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Unfortunately your employer is the only route available to you for this.

It's a bit of an unfortunate flaw in the system that low pay and casual workers are far less likely to work for companies that will comply but are also the people probably need the discount the most.

I'm not counting myself in that group at the moment but I have been in the past

insert name here 123 · 19-02-2021 4:44pm

I applied for the bike to work scheme couple of weeks ago, apparently bag log and will be up to 4_6 weeks before all is done.

What happens if the bike i chose goes out of stock, do I need to reapply again or can i just pick another of same value?

Cheensbo · 19-02-2021 4:50pm

insert name here 123 wrote: »

I applied for the bike to work scheme couple of weeks ago, apparently bag log and will be up to 4_6 weeks before all is done.

What happens if the bike i chose goes out of stock, do I need to reapply again or can i just pick another of same value?

The backlog must be within your company? (unless you work for public service?)

did mine last week and from asking the boss to having the invoice paid took only a few hours - obviously a small company but there aren't many reasons for it to be delayed -

It should be as simple as this

1.Bike shop generates invoice -
2.employer does balance transfer (or whatever payment method they choose)
3.employee collects bike
4. Payroll is adjusted to suit scheme

MJohnston · 19-02-2021 4:58pm

Cheensbo wrote: »

The backlog must be within your company? (unless you work for public service?)

did mine last week and from asking the boss to having the invoice paid took only a few hours - obviously a small company but there aren't many reasons for it to be delayed -

It should be as simple as this

1.Bike shop generates invoice -
2.employer does balance transfer (or whatever payment method they choose)
3.employee collects bike
4. Payroll is adjusted to suit scheme

Ironically the Bike2Work service operated by Travelhub slows this whole process to a crawl.

lapua20grain · 19-02-2021 5:13pm

insert name here 123 wrote: »

I applied for the bike to work scheme couple of weeks ago, apparently bag log and will be up to 4_6 weeks before all is done.

What happens if the bike i chose goes out of stock, do I need to reapply again or can i just pick another of same value?

I applied Monday just gone through bike to work and my employer and the bike was delivered today came quicker than I thought. Doesn't look like there is a backlog.

insert name here 123 · 19-02-2021 7:13pm

Sorry I should have clarified, I'm not in the public or civil service, just a rather large company. I hope the bike will still be available by the time it all gets approved.

I have contacted the supplier just to check if bike is put aside for me (no longer on stock on their website) should know more next week:)

Bike to Work scheme - the Megathread - Read post #1 before posting

Comments