Company car not an unconditional employment condition

There has already been much litigation over the question of whether an employer may reclaim the lease car made available to the employee. Generally, case law holds that a lease car that may also be used privately is an employment condition. And an employment condition may not simply be unilaterally changed by the employer. In 2019 Rabobank was therefore ruled against in a judgment of the District Court of Amsterdam when the bank had reclaimed the car from 29 employees because they drove insufficient business kilometres per year.

A recent ruling shows that the Hof Den Bosch thinks differently about that. In this case an employee of the legal predecessor of Vodafone (Ericsson) drove a company car for 13.5 years. He had received the car on the condition that he would drive more than 12,000 business kilometres per year. On several occasions the employer had reiterated that there were conditions attached to the provision of the car. The employee had not objected to that.

After Vodafone had started collaborating with Ziggo, VodafoneZiggo had informed the employee that a new mobility policy would apply from October 2018. As a result, the employee would no longer be eligible for a company car. Instead, he would receive a monthly mobility allowance until no later than 15 October 2025. The employee returned his company car on 1 January 2019 and brought a claim before the court and subsequently before the Hof seeking to have his car returned.

The Court considered it important that a clear condition (at least 12,000 business kilometers) had repeatedly been attached to retaining the car, that it had been communicated that at the end of this contract it would again be determined whether the employee would qualify for a lease car and that he had not protested, and that the Works Council had agreed to the new mobility policy.

A somewhat surprising ruling given the earlier decisions and good news for employers who do not want to make the company car available unconditionally. It is always useful, however, to document and reiterate the terms for the company car in writing.