More than two years after its introduction, the mobility budget still does not seem to be a success. The point is: currently, only 4% of Belgian employees receive a mobility budget from their employer, even though it is obligatory for all employees with a company car to receive one / site Securex
Only 4% of Belgian employees currently receive a mobility budget from their employer. These are the results of a survey held by HR service provider Securex among more than 1 500 employees in May.
A quarter of the employees who have a company car say they are ready to exchange it for a mobility budget, and another 22% are prepared to do so under certain conditions.
4 out of 10 drops the company car
“The mobility budget comes down to the employee agreeing with his employer a specific amount that would otherwise be used to pay for a company car,” Heidi Verlinden from Securex told Belga news agency.
“With this amount, he or she can choose mobility benefits tailored to his or her individual situation. Of course, a company car can still be part of this, but four out of ten employees who opt for a mobility budget drop their company car.”
But in general, even if half of them are still reluctant to take out a mobility budget, there is a huge gap between the workers who currently benefit from it and those who want to benefit from it, remarks Securex.
Mileage allowance is in demand
According to Securex, employees would use their mobility budget very creatively. For example, of those prepared to exchange their company car for a mobility budget, with or without conditions, 40% would like to receive a mileage allowance, 22% a year’s subscription to public transport and 13% a company bicycle.
Other ideas for mobility budgets include the option of taking out a subscription with a bicycle rental service (13%) or using a shared car provided by the company (12%). One-fifth of Belgian employees still do not receive any mobility benefits, by the way.
Not yet a thunderous success
The mobility budget must be offered on a mandatory basis to all employees with a company car. In February of this year, the mobility budget, which has been in existence for two and a half years, reached 1,5% of every 1 000 employees who have a company car. At the beginning of 2020, the figure was 1 in 10 000.
A lack of affordable green alternatives to the classic company car and the rather complex administration for both employer and employee stand in the way of the success of the mobility budget, reported HR service company Acerta.
Nevertheless, the mobility budget is more successful in Brussels than in the rest of Belgium (8% versus 3%). Traffic jams are greater there and alternative solutions are more numerous.
In 2019, companies in Belgium registered a record number of 315 557 new company cars. The total number of company cars in Belgium should be around 670.000, but that figure is hypothetical as there is no real statistical background on this for the moment.
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