Brighten Your Day

This New Zealand Company Pays Employees Extra If They Bike To Work

March 8, 2018

A small company in Christchurch, New Zealand is offering employees an additional $10 a day if they bike to work.

Credit: New Zealand Transport Agency

Employees of the advertising agency Make Collective receive $5 every time they bike to and from work, and if they keep it up for more than half a year that amount will double to $10 a day.

"For a while I had been thinking it would be great to incentivise cycling in some way. I'm a really keen cyclist [and] cash is clearly the most obvious incentive," Tim Chesney of Make Collective told Stuff.

"My gut instinct is that it could be something really good for the workplace. I know for myself I show up feeling a lot more energized, my blood is already flowing."

Chesney said five of his six employees have started biking to work since Chesney launched the incentive program last week.

"It's been great so far, I mean, I get to ride through Hagley Park and see people feeding the ducks, reading books and stuff, which is quite different to just waiting for the lights to change while driving," Make Collective developer Elliot Gilmore said.