Anyone who works in human resources knows them: Employee offers, employee advantages, employee benefits or corporate benefits are additional services that employees receive from their employer.
As a rule, they are not a formal part of the employment contract, but corporate benefits are advantages that go beyond regular remuneration. The aim of these benefits is to increase employee satisfaction and thus employee loyalty by having a positive impact on factors such as the working atmosphere, work-life balance, health and motivation of employees.
Corporate benefits play an important role in the employee experience and are part of employer branding. A comprehensive benefits package not only benefits employees, but also the company itself - because the more satisfied employees are, the less likely they are to change employers. Ultimately, there is even a chance that they will recommend their employer to potential employees because of the attractive employee benefits package.
To find inspiration for employee benefits in the area of mobility, it helps to take a look at the employee benefits offered by top German employers. They have now recognised that, in addition to traditional employee benefits, employees primarily want corporate benefits that allow them maximum flexibility and sustainability in their mobility. These companies offer individual mobility benefits such as company bikes or job tickets or even the entire range of mobility via a flexible and individualised mobility budget, in many cases going beyond individual offers. They often offer these services to their employees as an alternative to a company car.
With the right employee benefits, companies can increase their attractiveness as an employer and ensure greater employee loyalty. Companies should not only focus on traditional benefits, but also consider innovative mobility solutions. By offering flexible mobility options, such as a mobility budget or company bicycles, companies are signalling sustainability and employee orientation. Companies can also use mobility benefits to meet employees' increased need for more flexibility.
Corporate car sharing, a company bike or discounted public transport tickets such as the Deutschlandticket as a job ticket can also improve the work-life balance and ease the financial burden on commuters. Companies can also specifically attract environmentally conscious talent with car sharing and other sharing offers or e-bike leasing.
Individual mobility budgets enable employees to find suitable solutions for their needs. Investing in the mobility of your workforce pays off in the long term and strengthens your image as an attractive employer in the competition for skilled labour.
Germany is currently experiencing a bicycle boom. The reasons for this include the climate crisis and the transport revolution. Added to this is the trend towards e-bikes. However, employees often have to dig deep into their pockets for e-bikes. But there is an attractive alternative: instead of buying a bike, employees can also lease one if their employer offers this.
No wonder bike leasing is one of the most popular employee benefits. Many large German companies already have company bikes in use. For companies, company bikes are a component of modern health management, an attractive ‘salary bonus’ for employees or a targeted measure to position themselves as a sustainable employer brand. Bike leasing providers such as BusinessBike Companies such as Puma, s.Oliver and Grohe rely on bike leasing from BusinessBike. The MDAX company KION, the Schuler Group or the luxury company LVMH, on the other hand, have a bike leasing scheme from the provider Deutsche Dienstrad. Some providers also offer bike leasing for the public sector.
One of the largest employers in Germany, the VW Group, is taking a different approach: according to its own statements, it wants to become Europe's largest manufacturer-owned bicycle financier. To this end, VW is acquiring a stake in Bike Mobility Services (BMS), a subsidiary of Dutch bicycle manufacturer Pon, through its subsidiary Volkswagen Financial Services AG. This means for VW employees: They can lease a normal bike, e-bike, recumbent or cargo bike at low cost via the ‘Lease a Bike’ brand.
The 49-euro ticket is well received by many German companies. They offer their employees the Deutschlandticket as a job ticket. In a survey conducted by the environmental organisation Greenpeace among the 90 DAX and MDax-listed companies, more than half stated that they provide their employees with a Deutschlandticket as a job ticket, including Zalando, BMW, DHL Group and Telefonica Deutschland.
Both employees and companies benefit from the Deutschlandticket as a job ticket. If companies subsidise the Deutschland-Jobticket for their employees by at least 25 per cent, the state supports this with a further 5 per cent. This means that employees can save at least 30 per cent and pay a maximum of 34.30 euros per month for the Jobticket. This also has advantages for companies. They can deduct the costs they pay for the job ticket in the form of an employer subsidy from their taxes as business expenses or expenses for the employee.
In times of flexible working models and New Work, employees expect more than traditional corporate benefits. Companies need to adapt and provide innovative offerings to attract and retain talented employees.
Modern employee benefits such as a mobility budget allow employees to flexibly manage their own mobility costs and use different modes of transport as required. Employers who introduce mobility budgets show themselves to be modern and employee-orientated companies. This development reflects the fact that the world of work is evolving and flexible benefits are becoming increasingly important.
Companies such as SAP, Lufthansa Innovation Hub and persona service have shown that mobility budgets not only increase employee loyalty, but also promote sustainability and climate protection within the company.
Companies that are frequently on the move often have their own fleet of vehicles or have to regularly use taxis and hire cars. This is associated with considerable costs. Corporate car sharing is more cost-effective and, above all, much more flexible.
Car sharing for companies is an innovative way of giving employees access to a fleet of company cars. Business car sharing providers such as Wuddi enable the use of over 10,000 cars in 17 cities with just one app via partners such as Share Now. All additional costs are already included.
Business car sharing is particularly suitable as a flexible form of fleet management for companies that spend a lot of time travelling in the field. This is why companies such as Vattenfall, ProSiebenSat.1, ORF and DKB are the main providers of car sharing for employees.
Whether it's the Deutschlandticket, Jobbike or mobility budget: corporate benefits for employee mobility are increasingly digital. More specifically, the administration of these employee benefits. A growing number of providers are offering companies software for mobility benefits - such as NAVIT, Lofino or Probonio.
Among other things, these software solutions enable companies to manage their personnel easily and optimise payroll accounting for tax purposes. Companies can also provide their employees with a wide range of benefits quickly and easily within a single app. Simple handling of benefits leads to satisfied employees and also minimises the administrative burden for companies.
