What is the basic philosophy behind the measure?
Most KPMG employees still need the company car (occasionally) for professional purposes or are unwilling to surrender it. Just paying a train pass on top of the company car costs a lot of money and gives no guarantee that the company car will actually be abandoned.
The daily allowance introduced by KPMG for the use of alternative mobility options - train, tram, bus – gives the employee complete freedom. He or she can decide when and how to commute to work or the client and our organization rewards those who effectively choose alternative transport.
How does it work?
The employee receives a basic incentive of EUR 532 on an annual basis. Commuters with a fixed daily commute can use this amount to (partially) finance the purchase of a season ticket on public transport.
KPMG employees who, however, often travel several different routes – from home to office and to clients – can recharge the incentive in Olympus. This is an innovative mobility app that can be used for all forms of public transport, as well as for shared bicycles and parking at stations.
Via a mobility calendar, the employee can indicate per day when he or she has used alternative transport. Per day of alternative transport, the employee receives an additional incentive of EUR 10.
What can the incentive be used for?
The incentive can be used for all forms of alternative transport, parking at the station, but also for bicycle leasing or a donation to a good cause via the cafeteria plan.
Which administrative tools are used to manage this?
KPMG employees use the self-developed Flex Reward Tool. The tool includes a mobility calendar and manages the employee's budgets.
Through the tool, the employee can upload their budget in the Olympus app, order a train pass, choose a bicycle lease or make a donation to Kom op tegen Kanker or Youthstart. This tool is also used by KPMG clients.
After recharging the credit in the Olympus app via the Flex Reward tool, users can, for instance, order a Railease (train pass for 20 days) or an individual train ticket in a few seconds via the app.
Is there no risk of abuse?
The measure is primarily based on trust. However, it is possible to do high-level checks. Via Olympus, for instance, it is possible to do a detailed check on what the tickets were purchased for. Moreover, the incentives are not paid out in cash.
Can the employee also return their company car?
Of course they can. KPMG has had a flexible car policy for several years now, whereby the car can be returned or downgraded. The choice of a smaller car is particularly popular. The cafeteria plan is used for flexible mobility, not the recent mobility budget or cash-for-car.
Does the measure have an effect?
The measure first of all has an impact on the mindset. Colleagues at KPMG think twice about the way they travel to the client or to work. The company car is still an option, but so is an alternative. KPMG also makes pool cars available for people who go to work by train and have to visit a client by car.
The figures confirm this: in practice, we see that people are driving much less with a company car, some 6.8% of KPMG’s employees already leave the car behind.
