No more paper eco vouchers

Following the advice of the National Labour Council, the main suppliers of eco vouchers have announced their intention to stop issuing paper eco vouchers.

If you have been granting paper eco vouchers to your employees until now, you will have to modify your collective labour agreement (CLA) with regard to the granting of eco vouchers.

In order to be exempt from social security contributions, electronic eco vouchers actually must meet various conditions that do not necessarily apply to paper eco vouchers.

There are four conditions:

• The choice of electronic eco vouchers is governed by a CLA on company level, possibly within the framework of a CLA on sector level. If such a CLA cannot be concluded, the choice of electronic eco vouchers must be governed by an individual written agreement.

For employees falling under the joint committee for temporary agency work, this choice may be made by means of a prior sectoral CLA.

• The number of electronic eco vouchers and their gross amount must be stated on the payslip of the employee.

• Before using electronic eco vouchers, the employee must be able to check the balance and validity of the granted eco vouchers that have not yet been used.

• The use of electronic eco vouchers may not entail any costs for the employee, except in the event of theft or loss under the conditions to be laid down by a CLA on sector or company level, or in the employment regulations if the granting of the electronic eco vouchers is governed by an individual written agreement.
  
  
  
  In any case, the cost for the alternate format in the event of theft or loss may not exceed the nominal value of a luncheon voucher, if both electronic luncheon vouchers and electronic eco vouchers are granted in the company. If the employer grants only electronic eco vouchers, the cost may not exceed € 5.00.

It is therefore important to check whether you need to change your documents (CLA, individual agreement, employment regulations)!

Source: USS; www.socialsecurity.be