In this new series of articles, we would like to present the most important elements of the company car regulations, sharing our experience accumulated during our work.
Being a fleet service provider, our Clients often ask us for advice on what company car policy is best for their organisation, covering all necessary internal rules and car user cases. As an advisory partner, we consider all companies unique, therefore several appropriate company car policies are available. No general recipe exists; the important thing is to always adapt the car policy to the needs of the given organisation. Based on our several years of experience, we hope to help you with this series of articles.
In the first part of this series we asked Regina Szepesi, HR director of ALD Automotive Magyarország Kft. about the eligible users of company cars and the organisational aspects of car use.
"If I was to establish a car policy from scratch, I would aim to write a clear set of rules for everyone, adjusted to the needs of the organisation, taking into consideration real life situations." - starts Regina. Then she continues by adding the idea that the car use is an especially important and highlighted topic for HR aspects, too.
Within a given company it is a good idea to determine, on the basis of each employee level, who is entitled to use and in particular which vehicle, whether it is a so-called status car assigned to a certain position, as part of the benefit package provided by the company to the employee, or a utility car, being a necessary benefit for the employee to perform his/her duties.
The use of the vehicle for work and for private purposes is closely related to this, the separation of which “may represent a sensitive topic for the employees. Private use, which is not or only partially supported by the company may represent a reduction of employee benefits, or the use of different tracking systems applied by the companies may affect the employee's privacy." It should be considered to tailor these to the organisation and to its activities as much as possible, taking into account the expectations of car users and the business interests of the company.
“A company car is of great significance for everyone within an organisation, especially for those eligible for use. Therefore, the company car policy should also specify the cases when someone is excluded from the circle of beneficiaries for some reason.” - highlights Regina, mentioning that the company car policy should give details on the different cases in personnel changes. The most common situation is when a new colleague or a current employee becomes eligible for a company car. However, a car policy should also cover cases when someone is no longer entitled to use a car due to change of position or when an employee temporarily leaves the company (e.g. maternity leave, working abroad) or permanently leaves the company.
"There are companies where the employee can get hold of his/her final car from the moment of entering the new position or where the company provides him/her with a replacement car of the same category until the new car arrives, but I have seen examples where the employee could only receive the company car after the end of the probationary period." - says our HR director. She goes on to mention that it is advisable to clarify in the car policy the cases of those employees who are leaving the company. For example, if an employee is allowed to use the vehicle after termination of employment, it is helpful to set out in advance the scope of any responsibilities and obligations, to avoid any future dispute.
As a final thought, we would like to emphasize that “it is absolutely important to establish the scope of those eligible for using a company car, to specify the rules, and even for fleets consisting of 10-20 cars it is a good idea to establish a detailed car policy, so that the rules for company car use are clear to the members of the organization”.
Regina Szepesi - ALD HR director
Krisztina Lengyel – ALD Senior Key Account Manager