mobility
From June 1, anyone who commutes to work by train or bus can count on a refund of 71.8 percent of the subscription costs. Now that reimbursement by the employer is limited to 56 percent.
The fact that employees can soon count on an increased reimbursement of the costs of public transport on their commute to work is the result of an agreement between trade unions and employers’ federations. They concluded a new national collective labor agreement (no. 19/11) in the National Labor Council (NAR) in this regard, following up on similar collective labor agreements from 2019 and 2020.
With the new collective labor agreement, the social partners say they want to provide an answer to the increased cost of train subscriptions with NMBS. It therefore does not stop at a one-off increase in the contribution by employers. Until 2029, the commuter allowance will be adjusted annually to absorb (part of) the price indexations and increases by NMBS and regional transport companies such as De Lijn and STIB.
The concrete amount of the employer contribution depends on the type of subscription (validity of one month, three months or one year) and the distance traveled by public transport. The new NAR collective labor agreement contains a long table with fixed amounts – each corresponding to 71.8 percent of the real cost price (calculated on February 1 of this year). Until now, that calculation percentage was 56 percent.
The Christian trade union ACV responded satisfactorily to the agreement and demonstrated the improvement with a calculation example: “A monthly season ticket from Ghent to Brussels now costs 211.00 euros (distance 58 km). Today, an employee must receive at least 118 euros back from his employer (56 percent). Thanks to the amended collective labor agreement, this will be 151 euros (71.8 percent). That is 33 euros net more per month for the employee. This is a significant improvement, but the part that the employee must pay himself remains high.”
Sectoral freedom
In addition to the national collective labor agreements concluded in the NAR, the social partners retain the freedom to make ‘better’ agreements in a business sector – in this case a higher contribution from the employer to the employees’ train costs. This is, for example, the case in the important joint committee 200, which covers about half a million employees. In PC 200, the train allowance has been 80 percent of the price of a 2nd class train ticket since February 1 of this year. Sectors may never ‘go lower’ than the agreements in a national collective labor agreement.
Flex subscriptions
For the first time, the national collective labor agreement also covers the reimbursement of the costs of a so-called flex subscription. For example, since March last year, NMBS has been offering special subscription formulas for employees who regularly work from home and only go to the office two or three days a week.
Sustainable commuting
According to Rudi Delarue, president of the National Labor Council, with their new agreement on train and bus costs, unions and employers are encouraging employees to opt for sustainable commuting formulas. This is not the first time, Delarue emphasizes.
Cycling employees also receive financial support. Delarue refers to the recent increase in the (tax-free) bicycle allowance to 0.35 euros per kilometer. An employee can receive a maximum of 3,500 euros (per employee and per employer) tax-free as bicycle allowance per year.
