Mandatory bike allowance from 1 May 2023: what do you need to know about this?
April 2023 – In early February 2023, the social partners in the National Labour Council (NAR) reached an agreement on the mandatory granting of a bicycle allowance for private sector employees. This measure will take effect from 1 May 2023. In this article, you can read what specifically will change.
Today, 11 per cent of all Belgian workers come to work by bike. Of workers who live less than five kilometres from work, 55 per cent still come by car. With the introduction of the compulsory bike allowance, the government wants to encourage more workers to come to work by bike.
To whom does this obligation apply?
The new collective agreement 164 complements existing sector agreements. In other words, the new measure is only applicable in sectors and companies where no collective labour agreement related to a bicycle allowance already exists. If such an agreement does already exist, it will continue to apply, even if the agreed compensation amount is lower.
Note: if you, as an employer, grant a bicycle allowance on the basis of an individual employment contract or work rules/company regulations - i.e. not under a collective bargaining agreement - you will be covered by this supplementary agreement.
Which bikes are we talking about?
The mandatory bicycle allowance refers to the bicycle, which is defined by the legislator as: "a bicycle, a motorised bicycle or a speed pedelec, as defined in the General Road Traffic Police Regulations, in the sense that motorised bicycles and speed pedelecs only qualify if they are electrically powered".
What displacements are we talking about?
The allowance is granted to any employee who regularly makes the journey between his home and place of work by bicycle.
If he combines different modes of transport for this commuting journey, he may receive an employer's allowance for each mode of transport, provided that these different allowances relate to:
either different parts of the commuting route
or the same journey (or the same part thereof) made at different times of the year.
How much is the fee?
The basic amount of the allowance is EUR 0.145 per kilometre travelled by bicycle. This amount is indexed annually according to the same mechanism as the social and tax exemption of the bicycle allowance.
Since 1 January 2023, the allowance is 0.27 euro per kilometre travelled by bicycle. The allocation of this allowance is capped at a distance of up to 20 kilometres per single journey.
An employee who wants to benefit from the bicycle allowance must make a declaration to honour the number of kilometres of his commuting route and the number of days of the month he commutes by bicycle.
With the general introduction of this bicycle allowance, the government in our country aims to encourage the use of bicycles as a mode of transport to and from work. This will have a positive impact on workers' health, the environment and congestion.
