Meal, cellphone, or company car vouchers: Can you negotiate extra benefits? | MyGuide

Outlaw benefits are on the rise. Not far to find the cause. The illegal benefits are more interesting than the classic gross salary increase because as an employee you have more jobs left. But employers also benefit from it, as they don’t have to pay Social Security contributions and taxes on all fringe benefits.

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Depending on the company you work for and the job you hold there, there are many options. The most popular is food vouchers, but this is by no means the constant additional benefit. For example, there is also Reimbursement for commuting, group insurance, hospital insurance, company car, fuel card, mobile phone, laptop, tablet And the eco vouchers.

“One of the defining features is clearly on the rise, and that is the company bike. We note that many employers use this tool. Certainly by using an electric bike, you can increase the distance employees can come to work by bike.”

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So the illegal benefits are interesting as an employee. But can you also negotiate it? “It depends on the situation and the company,” explains Van Herby. “As an employer, you cannot decide on an individual basis whether or not to give it to each additional benefit. With meal vouchers and insurance, for example, you as an employer must treat everyone equally: everyone or no one. As an employee, you cannot Negotiate it. Asking your boss to get more meal vouchers than another colleague is not an option.”

There is more margin for things like a company car or bike, a fuel card, and IT supplies like a mobile phone or tablet. “But in principle, this is rarely done within an HR policy,” says Caroline van Herby. “There you will first consider the professional need. Is it legal to give an individual employee a certain extra advantage? Yes. Is it a commonly applied principle? Not that. In fact, it is mainly about the job.”

However, this does not mean that there is no possibility. “Think of the company bike, which we just talked about. I can imagine you as an employer feel free to ask if it would convince a new employee. Especially if he lives a little further from the company,” concludes Caroline van Herby.

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