There are no strict eligibility requirements for an employee to join The Electric Car Scheme. However, we recommend that employers offer the scheme only to employees who have successfully passed their probation period.
One essential rule is that an employee's gross salary cannot fall below the National Minimum Wage (NMW) as a result of their salary sacrifice. If this condition is not met, the employee will not be eligible to lease a car through the scheme.
Ensuring Employees Don’t Fall Below the NMW
We’ve built safeguards into our process to ensure compliance with NMW regulations:
Our quote tool requires employees to input their gross annual salary and any relevant deductions. This allows us to automatically assess whether the salary sacrifice would bring their income below the NMW threshold.
Our dedicated EV specialists provide guidance on affordability and NMW implications. We believe in full transparency, and we ensure every employee understands the financial impact before placing an order.
Both the employee and the employer are required to sign the car order and salary sacrifice agreement. This gives the employer the opportunity to review the impact on the employee’s take-home pay and confirm that participation won’t result in a breach of NMW laws.
What If NMW Rates Change?
As NMW rates increase over time (often due to inflation), an employee who was originally eligible may risk falling below the threshold if their salary or contracted hours remain unchanged. While this situation is rare as most employers offer annual pay reviews, we still take a proactive approach:
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We regularly review changes to NMW and assess their potential impact on employees in the scheme.
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If any employees are identified as potentially falling below the threshold due to a legislative change, we will notify the employer and ask them to review the employee’s current salary and hours.
Should an employee fall below the NMW after entering the scheme, it becomes the employer’s responsibility to adjust the employee’s gross salary to ensure continued compliance with NMW legislation.