Fleets show interest in salary sacrifice

An Association of Car Fleet Operators survey has found that over 36% of respondents are now thinking about looking at salary sacrifice schemes and 17.5% are currently evaluating schemes.

However, almost one-in-four has never looked at salary sacrifice and- to date - no company has actually implemented a scheme.

The largest single fleet-size band of those who take part in the survey was the over-500 cars group (45.9%). The next largest group (34.4%) was the sub-100 cars group.

While salary sacrifice schemes are commonly seen as a HR benefits tool allowing staff to save on the purchase of a new low-emission car, a number of companies have used salary sacrifice to replace their company car fleets (Fleet News August 5).

David Hosking, managing director of Tusker, which provides salary sacrifice for cars schemes, said the results were in line with its own findings. He said enquiries regarding a salary sacrifice car schemes typically do not come from the fleet department.

“We find that in the overwhelming majority of salary sacrifice schemes that we implement, the impetus comes from the HR or benefits manager within the business. This is because salary sacrifice cars are very much seen as an additional flexible benefit that is usually open to all employees,” he said.

“This contrasts with the traditional company car scheme which is usually only available for those who qualify for a car because of their job description or they receive one as a perk of their job.

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