What is behind our specialist’s expression “in principle”? “You have to look at all the circumstances surrounding the work: for example, is there an agreement relating to the use of company car ? What does she envisage for the different cases? This can facilitate the recovery of the car, depending on the clauses of the agreement.”
93% of owners of an electric company car are satisfied.
Strictly professional or not?
Some company cars can be used exclusively for business or many for business and very little for private use. “It can be the opposite: especially in a private capacity, and even exclusively in a private capacity” specifies Ms. t’Serstevens.
By private use, it means home-work travel, and weekend and holiday travel.
In the case of partially or exclusively private use, it is complicated to remove the car from the employee without any further procedure.
“This will depend on the documents that were signed, what is planned, and the circumstances of the withdrawal.“If there is an intended private use, “the worker could effectively contest the withdrawal by indicating that his car is part of his salary.“
Note that the benefit in kind exists as soon as there is a private use, whether important or not.
Are ATNs indexed in Belgium?
How is the car ATN calculated?
The share of professional and private use is not taken into account in the calculation of the ATN, “it is linked to private use of the car, without taking into account the proportion” explains the SD Worx specialist. “S‘there is no private use, there is no benefit of any kind“
-Currently, the ATN is linked to the value of the vehicle, to its CO2 emissions: “the cleaner the car, the lower the ATN.”
No legal rule if you delete a company car
There is no rule provided in the law if we delete a car granted by a company, “because the law does not provide anything for this type of extra-legal benefit” constate Mme t’Serstevens.
A company can therefore try to eliminate a car unilaterally. And sometimes it happens.”There are companies in which workers do not discuss these changes“, recognizes the SD Worx lawyer.
But she adds that the presence of consultation bodies, a works council, a union delegation, changes the situation: “It is not as simple to remove a company car, since we modify the salary elements of the workers. A decision to eliminate company cars would then have to go through the works council.”
The third option – apart from acceptance or the union – could be, according to her, for a worker affected by the removal of his company car to request a claim process in the courts and tribunals to have payment of compensation. rupture, invoking the equipollent act, “an act assimilated to dismissal, on the part of the employer” specifies Ms. Valérie t’Serstevens.
What do we replace with?
So, if the company chooses to eliminate a company car, in a company that has a union delegation, it must offer compensation.
“If the goal for the company is to save money, a salary increase is not the solution, because it costs more” we say at SD Worx. “Likewise, a bonus costs the company more than a company car.”
If the car remains an element of the salary package which still appeals to many employees, the mobility budget, set up by the federal government, offers alternatives, less expensive than a formal increase: “A worker who lives within a 10 km radius of the company can give up their company car and benefit from an intervention in their rent or mortgage loan. They can also choose to take out a public transport subscription, for themselves but also. for his family, all this without extra charge fiscal and social.
