Leaders choose workride.
Our lease-to-gift approach is trusted by almost 2,000 employers across New Zealand. It eliminates risk, cost, and complexity for your business while simplifying accounting with easy-to-manage processes and providing flexible payment models to suit your needs.
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Workride offers comprehensive protection for employers, including safeguards against payment abandonment, broad liability shielding, and tax compliance through IRD product rulings.
Considering Workride, NZ’s ride to work benefit program (workride.co.nz) ,here are the options for employer led or using Workride
Protected at every step
Workride’s lease-to-gift model is designed with employer protection in mind, ensuring that businesses can offer a ride-to-work benefit without financial or legal risks.
Unlike traditional purchases and instant gifting, our legal structure safeguards employers against abandoned salary sacrifices, supplier risks, and tax complexities.
Risk removed.
A common concern for employers is the risk of employees leaving before completing their salary sacrifice payments. In New Zealand, employment laws prohibit unauthorized deductions, meaning that any previously agreed bonding agreement is not legally binding unless explicit approval is given at the time of the deduction.
This makes it challenging to enforce such contracts without the proper consent at the time of deduction.
Workride’s lease structure completely removes this risk. We retain ownership of the bike or e-bike for the entire 12-month salary sacrifice period, and employees only gain ownership once all payments are fully completed. If an employee leaves early without fulfilling their payment obligations, Workride can step in to resolve the situation.
Built in compliance.
We have worked through the hard stuff to make it as simple as possible for your team. Our ride-to-work program has been developed through consultation with experts in finance, law, and regulation, making sure we cover all the bases.
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Consumer Gaurantees Act:
With Workride, employees are fully covered under the Consumer Guarantees Act. Instead of the employer purchasing and gifting equipment directly, Workride acts as the official supplier. This model ensures that employees benefit from back-to-back warranty agreements with all our partnered retailers, providing seamless consumer protections.
Health & Safety Compliance:
Because Workride is the direct provider of the equipment, we remove the employer’s liability for workplace health and safety concerns. In contrast, if an employer purchases and gifts the equipment directly, they are considered the supplier and become responsible for meeting all equipment safety requirements and supplier liabilities. -
Workride has successfully received 4 binding rulings across the last 3 years. These rulings apply across all employers, ensuring tax certainty.
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Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act:
Our structure has been designed to comply with consumer finance regulations, ensuring fair practices for employees and exempting employers from financial provider obligations.
Public Finance Act:
Workride is New Zealand’s only Crown-compliant ride-to-work benefit. Our team has worked closely with legal experts to ensure alignment with government financial regulations, enabling safe implementation for public sector employers. -
The Workride salary sacrifice agreement functions as an employment contract addendum, drafted in consultation with legal experts to ensure compliance with New Zealand employment laws.
Our resolution process..
We work on your behalf—at no cost—to resolve situations where an employee discontinues their salary sacrifice. Our three-step approach ensures you’re never left out of pocket. For extra peace of mind, through partners we can offer Salary Sacrifice Abandonment Insurance, providing immediate coverage for any disputed claims that may arise.
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We immediately reach out to the employee to explain their options—often arranging a direct payment to settle any outstanding balance. This collaborative approach helps resolve most cases quickly and amicably.
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If we can’t reach an agreement, we initiate a formal recovery process through our trusted partners. Because Workride retains ownership of the ride during the 12-month salary sacrifice period, we can recover the equipment and either re-assign it to a new employee or repurpose it within your organisation. This ensures the benefit can remain in-house if desired.
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In some instances, Workride may recover funds by selling the reclaimed equipment, ensuring your organisation is never left out of pocket, regardless of the circumstances.
Easy. Automated..
We’ve designed Workride to be as easy and flexible as possible, minimizing administrative burden while aligning with your internal accounting practices.
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The Workride service fee is classified as an employment expense, recognized over 12 months on the income statement. Payments are offset through salary reductions, creating a net-zero financial impact to the Employer.
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Standard Process: Employers pay upfront in a rolling 7-day cycle, ensuring fast processing and immediate benefit activation.
Financing Arrangement: We offer an employer financing solution that removes cash flow constraints—financing fees are seamlessly bundled into the employee’s salary sacrifice.
Prepaid Float Management: Large employers can opt into our trust account framework, enabling instant benefit activation with no waiting time.
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We work closely with your team to tailor the Workride platform to your organization’s specific needs. Whether it’s adding fixed purchase order references for better tracking or consolidating invoices into custom billing cycles, our flexible system aligns seamlessly with your internal workflows—reducing admin tasks and ensuring a smooth, efficient experience for both HR and finance.
Ready to start your Workride journey for free today!
Click the link below and complete the form to receive a free information pack.
employer FAQs.
Have a question that isn’t answered here?
Contact us by click the button below.
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If an employee leaves employment before completing their lease, they'll be required to follow your early termination process. By default, this process allows employees to settle the outstanding salary sacrifice through their final net pay, or by making a direct payment. As an employer you will then contact Workride to terminate the lease and approve of Next Steps options to be provided. Workride will then engage directly with the individual to discuss their next steps in regards to their ride equipment ownership options.
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The NZ government is helping businesses support a shift to healthier transport modes by removing fringe benefit tax on bikes, e-bikes, and scooters provided to employees for commuting. However, employers face significant compliance and regulatory challenges if planning to facilitate this benefit internally, Workride is here to help. Workride removes employer headaches, by ensuring compliance through NZ’s only approved scheme, and efficiently managing the administration for participating employees.
Want to read up on the fringe benefit exemption? - Legislation link here
Want to read up on IRD’s commentary on this? (Page 77-88) - Tax bulletin link here -
Workride’s lease-to-gift model keeps ownership with us for the full 12‑month period—so if an employee leaves early, you’re never left out of pocket. Our three-step recovery process (Educate, Reassign/Repurpose, Reimburse) handles any defaults seamlessly and at no extra cost.
By acting as the official supplier, Workride eliminates the supplier liabilities of warranty claims and health & safety risks, ensuring employees remain fully covered under the Consumer Guarantees Act. Built with tax and legal experts, our model guarantees full regulatory compliance while integrating with your internal systems for a cost-neutral, streamlined benefit.
Trusted by over 1,000 New Zealand employers, Workride offers a secure, compliant, and hassle-free ride-to-work solution.
For more details, please visit: Why is Workride the Safest Option for Employers? -
The journey of Workride over the past 3 years has been marked by collaboration with leading New Zealand councils, organisations, agencies, and businesses, all aiming to develop New Zealand’s ride-to-work benefit scheme.
A key milestone was the 18-month comprehensive review conducted with NZ’s top tax consultants and industry. Ultimately resulting in multiple binding rulings issued by Inland Revenue that provide the tax and legal foundation for Workride, New Zealand’s ride-to-work benefit Program. This development ensures that participating employers can offer Workride with confidence, knowing they are compliant with legal and tax regulations.
Workride, New Zealand’s ride-to-work benefit scheme’s IRD binding ruling link -
Most contents insurance policies cover items that you or your family own or are legally responsible for. This can include items in your possession through arrangements like a 12-month consumer lease from a service provider. These policies generally define "contents" as:
"Household goods and personal effects that you or your family own or are legally responsible for."
Under this definition, a leased bike would typically be covered, as you are legally responsible for it during the lease period. Additionally, many contents policies provide coverage for items temporarily away from your home, ensuring protection for leased items like a bike when in transit or stored elsewhere. Always refer to your specific policy wording for confirmation.
Workride strongly encourages employees to obtain adequate cover for their ride to safeguard against damage or theft. Employees should simply notify their contents insurance provider about the replacement value of their ride. -
When an employee leaves employment during the Workride lease period and is either unable or unwilling to meet their contractual obligations and settle their salary sacrifice commitments, Workride has an established process to manage the situation.
During the lease, Workride holds the ownership of the ride, giving the employee exclusive possession rights. The employer will have an early termination process that by default allows the participating employee to settle their salary sacrifice obligations.
If an employee is unable to meet these contractual obligations, the employer is initially encouraged to seek an internal resolution.
In instances where an internal resolution isn't feasible, Workride's legal ownership of the ride enables a second outcome. Workride can assist in reclaiming the equipment from the employee and return it to the employer. Subsequently, the employer has the option to reassign the ride to another employee. In such cases, Workride facilitates the setup of a new lease agreement and revised salary sacrifice arrangement, ensuring the ride remains productively utilized within the organization.
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Prior to the lease period ending, Workride will directly contact the individual to discuss the “Next Steps” options regarding their ride equipment ownership. The initial lease allows for the Next Steps to be actioned, enabling a gifting option from Workride to the individual of the ride equipment after 12 months. Workride charges no fees or additional costs when offering the Next step options, these include:
Next Steps Deed (Gift): This option gives the ability for the individual to keep their ride equipment as a gift from Workride. Allowing the transition from legal possession to full ownership, giving employees the ability to permanently keep their bike, e-bike, or scooter.
Returning the Equipment: Alternatively, employees have the choice to return their ride to a predetermined Workride location. Our team then takes responsibility for the equipment, whether it involves recycling, repurposing, or donating it in line with our sustainability commitments
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Running your own benefit scheme may seem appealing, but the insurmountable risks, complexity, and administrative burdens make it impossible to provide the same benefit, and would expose the business and directors to significant risks. Workride ensures full tax compliance and legal protection, handling all complexities and administration at no cost, letting your business focus on its core activities.
Here is why choosing Workride is beneficial through compliance with multiple acts:Employment Relations Act 2000:
Ensures all employee/employer relations align with legal standards, especially when drafting salary sacrifice documentation and early termination processes.Income Tax Act 2007:
Covers exemptions and constraints on how value is transferred to the employee, either as income (PAYE) or a non-cash benefit (FBT). Sections BG1 and GA1 address general anti-avoidance rules.Goods and Services Tax Act 1985:
Considers GST implications when the employer provides services to the employee.Public Finance Act 1989:
Limits the spending and borrowing abilities of Crown Agencies, affecting their use of employee benefit programs.Crown Entities Act 2004:
Sets constraints on Crown Entities' spending abilities when procuring employee benefits.Credit Contract and Consumer Finance Act 2003:
Outlines how service providers interact with consumers, including required considerations and disclosures when offering financial services. Providers must be certified and registered on the Financial Services Provider Register.Privacy Act 2020:
Regulates the protection, storage, and disposal of personal information.Fair Trading Act 1986:
Ensures business practices are fair and transparent, which is crucial when managing employee benefit programs.Consumer Guarantees Act 1993:
Provides automatic guarantees to consumers, ensuring benefits meet quality and reliability standards.Wages Protection Act 1983:
Ensures lawful and consented wage deductions, vital for implementing a salary sacrifice scheme.Health and Safety at Work Act 2015:
Requires that employees and contractors are given the highest level of protection from workplace health and safety risks, both physical and mental, as far as is reasonably practicable.By choosing Workride, you can offer a valuable employee benefit without the headache of managing compliance and administration, and removing risk to the business and directors.
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For the best advice tailored to your unique circumstances, we recommend contacting your accountant. They can provide specialized guidance and help develop a strategy that enables you to maximize this benefit effectively.
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The Workride Benefit Scheme operates using a 'salary sacrifice' system. When an employee opts to forgo a part of their salary for a Workride-approved benefit, this deduction is made from their pre-tax income. As a result, the employee ends up paying less in PAYE, Kiwisaver, and ACC levy, which in turn leads to a reduced Kiwisaver and ACC levy bill for you, the employer.
Here are a few examples of payroll blogs/info on Workride. - Smartly Payroll Link - Crystal Payroll Link - iPayroll Link - PayHero Link
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Workride is dedicated to reshaping New Zealand's transportation landscape by promoting cycling. In collaboration with government bodies, local councils, and the riding industry, we offer a comprehensive scheme that benefits both employers and employees. By making cycling accessible and cost-effective, we aim to reduce traffic congestion, promote healthier lifestyles, and foster a more motivated workforce. With our robust partnerships and commitment to excellence, Workride is a movement for a healthier New Zealand.
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A salary sacrifice is not a deduction but rather a repackaging of an employee’s salary, which involves a mutual agreement to amend the employee’s terms of employment. Here’s how it works and why this distinction is important:
Key Points:
Amendment to Employment Agreement
A salary sacrifice is a formal adjustment to the employee’s gross salary or wages before tax.
It is done through an agreement between the employer and employee and typically documented as a variation to the employee's Individual Employment Agreement (IEA).
This means the employee agrees to receive less gross salary in exchange for a benefit, such as Workride, which is provided effectively through a pre-tax sacrifice.
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Register online and we'll send you our onboarding pack with legal documents and guidelines. Once registered, we create an account for you on our web app where you can review and approve employee requests. We handle the paperwork and compliance checks.
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Any employer based in New Zealand can register with Workride to offer this benefit to their employees. Simply register online, and we'll send through all the necessary documentation to get you started.
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The employee gets the commuting equipment through a lease with WorkRide, either for 12 months or until they leave their job, whichever is sooner. Even though they use it, WorkRide owns the equipment during this lease period. The employee is responsible for its care. So, if it's lost, damaged, or stolen, they'll need to fix or replace it. They must also use it correctly, according to its maker's guidelines, follow certain WorkRide rules, and mainly use it for getting to and from work.
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During the 12-month lease with WorkRide, the employee holds legal possession of the ride, but Workride retains ownership .At the conclusion of the 12-month lease of the ride equipment, the participating individual will receive an email directly from Workride outlining their ‘Next steps’ options regarding ownership of the ride equipment.
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At the end of the access period, there's no extra hassle for you. Our employer agreement ensures that Workride takes ownership of all the ride equipment processed through the scheme, leaving us responsible for its future. Once the lease agreement ends, whether due to the 12-month expiry or an employee's departure of employment, WorkRide directly contacts the participating individual to discuss the Next steps in regards to ride equipment ownership options.
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Once you're onboarded with Workride, maximize employee engagement with the scheme by creating a dedicated section under staff benefits on platforms like Teams or Slack, giving an overview of Workride. Additionally, display visual posters in communal office areas and weave information about Workride into welcome materials for new employees. This approach ensures the scheme's visibility and accessibility, during the onboarding process we can supply all the collateral you require.
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Many employers choose to fund the Workride scheme directly from their own cashflow, recognizing the significant benefits it brings to staff in terms of health and wellbeing.
If direct funding isn’t an option for you, stay tuned!
We are in collaboration with trusted capital partners who are developing a financing mechanism to enable any employer to offer Workride to their employees
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When your employee chooses a ride through Workride, we invoice you for a 12-month lease equivalent to the ride's cost. Your employee then salary sacrifices this total amount. As an employer you are able to claim GST on this expense, however you are also required to pay GST on the supply, these net out to zero on day one. The employee's salary sacrifice is the GST inclusive ride cost, ultimately enabling you to recover the total cost of operating the scheme.
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Under the Health & Safety at Work Act, your organisation is only liable for employees when they are performing official tasks, like biking to a work-related meeting. Commuting is not covered by this Act. However, when offering the Workride scheme, it's recommended to promote cycle skills training, especially for e-bike users. There are numerous certified trainers across New Zealand who offer specialized training. Even though daily commuting isn't included in the Act, providing safe cycling guidelines is a responsible step. For more insights on cycling safety, visit www.bikeready.govt.nz.
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The salary sacrifice and the lease are distinct from each other. While the salary sacrifice helps the employer recoup the costs of the ride, any mishaps with the leased equipment, like damage or theft, won't stop the salary sacrifice. So, an employee might finish their equipment lease but still have to continue with their salary reductions. For instance, if an employee takes a break and the salary sacrifice pauses, they might still be making salary sacrifices after the lease ends.
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Employees typically enter the Workride arrangement once over the estimated useful life of the equipment, starting from the day the lease agreement begins. However, there are exceptions that may warrant an early replacement. These can include situations like theft or destruction of the equipment, excessive wear and tear, a change in the employee's commuting needs, accidental damage that renders the equipment impractical to use, changes in an employee's physical health that necessitate different equipment, or changes in local regulations that require compliance with new safety or legal standards.
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The salary sacrifice period cannot be shortened from 12-months due to tax compliance. GAAR considerations would apply.