Five Q&A on the sustainable mobility package

Introduced in 2020, the sustainable mobility package allows employers to cover the transport costs of employees who make journeys between their home and their place of work using so-called “soft mobility” modes of transport (bicycle, carpooling, scooter, etc.). Presentation of this package in five Q&A.

Is the sustainable mobility package mandatory for the employer?

No. The employer, regardless of the number of employees he employs, is not obliged to set up the sustainable mobility package in his company.

This scheme is established by a company or inter-company agreement. It may also be provided for in an industrial agreement. In the absence of an agreement, the employer may set it up by unilateral decision, after consulting the Social and Economic Committee where appropriate.

Which modes of transport are concerned?

The Sustainable Mobility Package aims to encourage employees to use “cleaner” modes of transport. Thus, it can benefit employees who make the journeys between their home and their place of work:
- with their bicycle (classic or electrically assisted);
- with their own personal mobility machine (motorized or non-motorized): scooters, monowheels, segways, skateboard, hoverboard...;
- with a personal mobility device (motorized or non-motorized), a moped or a motorcycle for rent or self-service (scooters and electric scooters in free floating, for example);
- carpooling (passenger or driver);
- with public transport (excluding mandatory reimbursement of subscription fees by the employer);
- with shared mobility services: bike rental service, car-sharing services for electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, or hydrogens, etc.

What is the amount of compensation granted to employees?

It is the collective bargaining agreement or unilateral decision that determines the form and amount of compensation granted to employees.

Thus, the employer can pay employees:
- a lump sum compensation conditional on the practice of cycling, scooter, or carpooling;
- a flat-rate allowance per kilometer travelled by bicycle or with a motorized personal mobility device or per number of days of practice;
- the carpooling costs incurred as part of the cost-sharing between the driver and passengers;
- the rental costs of a personal rental or self-service travel machine or a car-sharing vehicle.

The employer also shares the employees’:
- public transport ticket costs;
- expenses incurred by the employees to purchase a bicycle, an anti-theft device or a helmet, to maintain and repair these “soft mobility” modes of transport and to rent a bicycle parking, etc.

What supporting documents should be requested from employees?

Here again, it is the collective bargaining agreement or the unilateral decision of the employer that specifies the supporting documents to be provided by the employees.

Thus, the employer must obtain, at least once a year, a sworn statement in which the employee certifies the use of the modes of transport included in the sustainable mobility package or proof of this use (invoice for equipment purchases, subscriptions, or rentals, for example).

What are the tax and social regimes of the sustainable mobility package?

In 2022 and 2023, the sustainable mobility package is exempt from income tax, social contributions and CSG-CRDS up to a limit of €700 per year per employee. A limit increased to €900 in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Reunion and Mayotte.