Cycle Friendly Employer Accreditation - Getting Started Guide

Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation

Rewarding companies who make their workplaces awe-inspiring through cycling Guide to getting started www.cyclinguk.org/CycleFriendlyEmployer

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Cycling UK Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation (CFE-UK)

Commuting by bike has many proven benefits for both employees and their employers.

Cycling as a form of exercise is excellent for improving fitness, lowering blood pressure, as well as reducing stress and increasing happiness as it’s very enjoyable! Studies have shown that physical activity can reduce staff absenteeism too.

And cycling as a form of transport has positive benefits: businesses that make commuting by bike easier and stress-free for their employees are more likely to attract and retain the best talent. They can also reduce costs because bicycles don’t take up as much parking space as cars.

Becoming an accredited Cycle Friendly Employer makes sense. Encouraging cycling means you can help your staff be the best they can be, every day.

Getting started

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What is the Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation (CFE-UK)?

CFE-UK accreditation officially recognises employers who make their workplaces awe-inspiring through cycling.

With partners in nine European countries, CFE-UK enables companies to measure up against the only international standard for workplace cycling.

It provides a flexible package to help businesses improve and promote cycling to work.

To achieve accreditation, employers need to meet several minimum standards across a number of categories. The higher the standards met, the higher tier a company can achieve out of Bronze, Silver or Gold.

How does it work?

It’s a simple three-step process:

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Register your interest, then complete an online self-evaluation to check if you meet the accreditation minimum standards, which will also indicate if a Bronze, Silver or Gold could be achieved.

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If approved, an onsite audit is arranged by Cycling UK to verify that you meet the required standards. The cost of the audit depends on the size of the business and the number of sites you’d like accredited.

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Following the audit, a report is provided to help the company implement developments or improvements to it’s cycle-friendly facilities. Bronze, Silver or Gold accreditation is awarded which is valid for three years.

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Cycling UK Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation (CFE-UK)

About CFE-UK criteria 1. Appoint a Company Cycling Coordinator There must be a nominated individual who collects and maintains information about your company’s cycle to work activities. As the CFE-UK champion within the company, they are the central point of contact for all other staff and manage key objectives, communication plans and possible funding or budget requirements. Responsibilities may include: • Overseeing the company’s commitment to increase percentage of employees cycling

• Investigating potential funding sources that could support the company’s cycling developments

• Providing information for all employees about cycling and sustainable transport on a regular basis

• Developing and implementing an Alternative Transport Strategy that will work towards improving the mobility of staff

This role should be granted the time and resources to deliver the identified responsibilities (relative to company size).

2. Bike parking facilities close to entrance or closer than car park spaces If you have bike parking or the ability to have it at your premises, then this is mandatory for an accredited Cycle Friendly Employer. Good quality bike parking located close to the entrance of your premises, demonstrates a commitment to being cycle-friendly. As well as making it easier for employees to cycle and park at work, it shows any visitors that you are cycle-friendly.

Features may include: • Suitable racks available (ability to lock both the front wheel and frame)

• Barrier-free access or easily navigable ramps

• Close to the company entrance

• Suitable roof providing protection from the weather

• Suitable ratio of bike parking spaces to number of employees

Getting started

These criteria influence the minimum score that your company can reach in order to be accredited: 1. Companies

that have fewer than 10 employees and implement cycle friendly measures will be assessed individually.

2. Companies

that do not have customer traffic/ have customers access the premises are not scored against ‘Category 6 – Customer Traffic’ so this is not included in the self-evaluation.

3. Companies

that do not have their own private premises are not scored against the corresponding measures from ‘Category 4 – Facilities’ which look at access to company premises, so are not included.

4. Companies

that do not have either their own or rented car parking spaces are not scored against the corresponding measures from ‘Category 5 – Parking Management’ so are not included.

5. Companies

that do not have either their own or rented bike parking are not scored against the corresponding measures from ‘Category 4 – Facilities’ about ‘Bike Parking’ so are not included.

Depending on which of the framework criteria apply, you will need to reach the minimum score in each category to be accredited as a Cycle Friendly Employer.

There are three levels that can be achieved, with the overall aggregated score dictating if you reach a Bronze, Silver or Gold standard.

“When bike parking is close to your premises entrance it not only makes it easier for employees to cycle to work, it demonstrates to any visitors that you are cycle-friendly.”

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Cycling UK Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation (CFE-UK)

“Being a Cycle Friendly Employer will help you attract and retain the best talent by making your staff commute by bike easier and stress-free.”

Getting started

Creating your evaluation A) Create a company account First step to completing the CFE-UK self-evaluation is to create an account for your company on the dedicated CFE website – details will be provided

by Cycling UK once your registration is received. Just click on the link for ‘Need to create an account?’:

Passwords must be between 6–16 characters and include a capital letter, number and special character (e.g. !*_£).

Once complete, you can log in to the homepage which contains useful information and benefits about the scheme:

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Cycling UK Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation (CFE-UK)

B) Select your framework criteria In the menu, select ‘framework criteria’ to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the framework questions. These determine which categories are applicable to you and therefore what you’ll be measured against:

As appointing a Company Cycling Coordinator is mandatory, this must be ‘yes’:

Then select ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for the following: 1. More

than 10 employees?

2. Customer

traffic (meaning do customers access the premises?)

3. Own/private

premises available (meaning does the company have control over the premises?)

4. Own/rented

car parking available?

5. Own/rented

bike parking available?

Getting started

C) Create your self-evaluation Next, select ‘self-evaluations’ from the menu and click on ‘new evaluation’.

Give your evaluation a title under ‘description’:

Click on ‘start’ and a new self-evaluation will be generated, based on your framework criteria:

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Scroll down to the category overview, and click on the ‘measures’ button to go into each category:

At the start of your evaluation, all answers default to ‘no’:

If you meet the criteria of a measure, change the answer to ‘yes’:

Getting started 11

“Secure and convenient cycle parking at workplaces makes a big difference to staff and accommodating several bikes is much less costly than providing space for just one car.�

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Save as you go along or click ‘save and continue’ if you wish to progress to the next category and set of measures.

If you need information about what is expected to meet an individual measure, click on the ‘info’ icon for that measure for details:

Once you’ve completed your self-evaluation and are ready to submit it to Cycling UK, click on the ‘submit’ button on the evaluation summary page. The status of your self-evaluation will then change and display a submission date:

Getting started 13

What if I don’t make the grade or aspire to be higher?

If – once you’ve completed the self-evaluation – your company either doesn’t meet the minimum standard or is close to stepping up a level to a Silver or a Gold, a three-month window is available in which to make necessary improvements and adjustments which will enable you to progress to audit.

If you are accredited and after year one, your business would like to upgrade – from Bronze to Silver or from Silver to Gold – this can be arranged for an agreed fee. Contact Cycling UK for more information.

“Encouraging employees to cycle to work and while on business can result in a healthier, more productive workforce too. It is a known fact that cyclists tend to take fewer days off sick and save a company money.”

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What costs are involved?

There is no charge for a company to complete a self-evaluation. Once this is submitted, however, the audit process is activated and you are entering into a financial agreement committing to both the cost of the audit and fixed accreditation fee for the three-year validity.

Prices depend on your business size (number of employees) and how many sites you would like audited.

Cycling UK offers discounts for public sector organisations and special rates for businesses with multiple sites, looking for company-wide accreditation.

A. Onsite audit fee average estimates (POA – Price on Application) Type of employer

Average days per company audit (estimate)

Private sector rate

Micro size, i.e. 1–9 employees

0.5

Small size, i.e. 10–49 employees

B. Accreditation fixed fee, valid for 3 years Public sector rate: NGO – 30% discount

Private sector flat fee

£400

£270

£270

£270

0.75

£600

£400

£400

£270

Medium size, i.e.

50–249 employees

1

£800

£540

£1,100

£740

Large size/ multiple sites, i.e.

250+ employees

2+

£1,600 upwards

£1,070 upwards

£2,000

£1,340

Flat rate per certification (companywide or site only), and any new additional sites

Public sector flat fee: NGO – 30% discount Flat rate per certification (companywide or site only), and any new additional sites

“Becoming a cycle-friendly employer makes sense.

Encouraging cycling helps tackle the business costs of congestion, reduces an organisation’s impact on the local and wider environment and even attracts some tax incentives. What’s more, it’s likely that levels of absenteeism will drop.”

The Cycle Friendly Employer accreditation (CFE-UK) has been developed within the framework of the EU project “Bike2Work” in accordance with the ADFC model (Allgemeine Deutscher Fahrradclub).

The framework in place for the CFE process is applicable for any partner country adopting the EU programme. Cycling UK is the recognised partner for the UK.

Find us on: Facebook and Twitter T: 01483 238301 www.cyclinguk.org Cycling UK, Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 9JX Cycling UK is a trading name of Cyclists’ Touring Club (CTC) a company limited by guarantee, registered in England no: 25185.

Registered as a charity in England and Wales charity no: 1147607 and in Scotland charity no: sco42541.

Registered office: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 9JX.