10 green benefits your employees will love
22nd October 2025
Samantha Gee
The collective impact we have on the environment is an increasingly important aspect for many people and many businesses.
In fact, 86% of those actively looking for a new role say a commitment to sustainability is an important part of their decision (Benifex, Great Expectations Research 2022).
So how can we ensure that our employee benefits align to this agenda? I’ve been asked this very question by clients, so – as part of our ‘Top 10’ anniversary series of blogs – here’s ten examples of ‘green’ benefits I’m seeing:
1. Electric cars
Offering hybrid or electric vehicles through salary sacrifice can make environmentally friendly options much more affordable. More widely, companies such as Center Parcs have a goal to completely remove petrol and diesel from their entire fleet by 2030. Employees can explore the cost savings with the help of websites such as Go Compare. Don’t forget to ensure there’s plenty of charging points at your workplace.
2. Cycling
As well as health benefits, encouraging employees to walk or cycle where possible will reduce your carbon footprint. Think incentives or ‘league tables’ recognising employees who walk to the office. Or providing a maintained fleet of bikes for employees to loan out – this is a great option as it’s not classed as an expense or benefit if the bikes are available to all. Google in the US fund bike subscriptions if employees use as part of their commute for at least ten days each month.
‘Cycle to Work’ is a popular formal salary sacrifice scheme. As it’s paid for from gross salary saving tax, and both employee and employer NI. Some providers are now including e-Bikes which make it even more attractive. And if employees choose to use their own cycle for work-related journeys, they can claim mileage at 20p per mile.
3. Car parking
Introducing a car parking levy may not be a popular choice but allocating the best spaces for those employees who car share, or incentivising greener travel to the workplace, such as walking, public transport and car-pooling/sharing, will help.
4. Holiday travel
Some employers are incentivising UK holiday choices. Others are encouraging employees to enjoy the journey as well as the destination and reduce carbon emissions at the same time by offering paid green ‘journey days’. Climate Perks is a membership organisation that can help with this.
5. Relocation subsidies
Some employers may even provide financial relocation incentives to encourage employees to live closer to the office location. It may sound extreme but faced with a difficult war for talent, Facebook was reportedly offering $10,000 to employees who move to within ten miles of the office.
6. Workplace allotments
Growing food on site can help both employee wellbeing and raise funds for charities. For example, Toyota GB have an on-site allotment at their Surrey site with produce being used in employees meals or to raise money for their corporate charity.
7. Pro bono
Many employers offer CSR (corporate social responsibility) days each year for voluntary work but how about offering professional skills and expertise on a pro bono basis? This has been commonplace in the legal sector for some time, and organisations like Fifth Day are now connecting business services professionals to pro bono opportunities in the third sector. What a great way to offer professional expertise to green causes.
8. Sabbaticals
On a similar thread, enabling employees to volunteer to a worthy cause through sabbatical leave can be a hugely motivating benefit. For example, Patagonia offer a two month paid environmental internship, and Deloitte, Adobe and PayPal all offer paid/part-paid sabbaticals that can be used for volunteering.
9. Incentives/recognition
Sustainability can be driven through employee recognition schemes. Think specific incentive programmes aligned to your organisations sustainability goals. Bi Worldwide’s ‘Bravo’ programme rewards behaviours that minimises environmental impact such as reducing waste, optimising energy efficiency, or using sustainable items.
10. Carbon offsetting
And finally, how about helpingemployees offset their carbon emissions through planting trees? This can be done by way of a salary deduction and some employers will do a matching arrangement, or alternatively through volunteering. Companies like Make it Wild can help facilitate this.
There’s plenty of innovation in this space. How many can you hit?
How we can help
At Verditer, we are specialists in creating a transparent approach to pay and reward. Do get in touch if you’d like our help with your total reward strategy.
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