Southeast England-based housebuilder Thakeham ensures its salary sacrifice car scheme is inclusive by providing a range of options to suit everyone.
When HR director Liane Richardson joined Thakeham in 2018, the organisation had its own fleet of company cars, which consisted of leased vehicles offered to employees as a benefit. There were limited and restrictive choices, ongoing maintenance costs, and issues with managing returned cars and early termination fees when staff left.
She wanted to improve it by implementing a salary sacrifice arrangement, provided by Tusker, for the organisation’s 235 employees. This moved away from eligibility and limited options, and opened the door for all staff to take advantage of it.
Employees can choose the mileage and length of lease and change these throughout the scheme, and they have the option to buy the car at the end. They can choose from a range of cars to suit budget and personal situations, such as if they have children, pets, or prefer a more technically advanced model. The scheme includes electric (EV), hybrid, petrol and diesel cars.
“We wanted to remove restrictions to be more flexible and ensure the scheme can be adapted to work for everyone,” says Richardson. ”Some think a new car is too expensive, but we have talked to lower-paid employees with financial struggles about it, run through the numbers regarding their current vehicle situation and compared them to the current Tusker scheme to highlight the fixed costs, no upfront costs and lower fuel costs associated with EVs.”
The scheme additionally has no credit checks, which are typically associated with loans from banks. This helps appeal to the housebuilder’s employees with tighter budgets.
Thakeham plans to introduce used cars in the future to increase affordability. Additionally, some contracts state that employees must choose an EV, with further incentives such as a salary uplift for doing so. To further encourage EV adoption, it provides a £500 contribution toward installing a home charging point.
To increase engagement, the organisation shares stories and case studies internally to spread the message and raise awareness of the scheme. It ensures it regularly communicates to its whole workforce about it, such as during employee inductions.
Richardson believes inclusive car schemes are important from a wellbeing and mental health point of view, because providing employees with peace of mind regarding costs and reliability supports this.
“Having an older vehicle that frequently breaks down, and incurs high costs as a result, can put stress and pressure on people, so it makes business sense to do this,” she says.
“It’s also important to not have different tiers of employees who can and can’t access the scheme; having it open to everyone ensures all staff can access it. It levels the playing field and means everyone has the same opportunity.”
