How to Encourage your Employees to Make Eco-Friendly Choices?

Among employees, attentiveness to sustainability is increasing all the time. For example, the Climate Survey 2022-2023 of the European Investment Bank showed that employees ever more often use climate considerations to choose a prospective employer. To 55% of the Dutch population, it is important that a future employer gives priority to sustainability. These figures are even higher among young employees.

Employers increasingly pick up on this “demand” when they shape their employment conditions. By making eco-friendly choices, employers boost their attractiveness to “green-minded” employees, while reducing their company's footprint at the same time. On the market we have already seen several initiatives to encourage ‘green’ employment conditions, such as Trappers (Pedals) and the Groene arbeidsovereenkomst (Green employment agreement).

What are ‘green’ employment conditions? In this article we give you some examples, inspired in part by the initiatives mentioned above.

• Promoting sustainable commuter traffic. This could be done by increasing the travel expenses allowance if the employee travels by public transport. In addition, the employer could offer a bike or e-bike scheme. If a car is really indispensable, the solution may lie in an electric leased car or in carpooling (which also strengthens ties between employees). Offering flexible working times makes it possible for employees to travel during off-peak hours, which decreases the environmental impact. The reimbursement of removal costs if an employee moves closer to the workplace may also reduce less commuter traffic in the long run.

• Allowing private trips to be made with a public transport pass. If employees can also make private use of their corporate season tickets, they will be more inclined to take the train rather than the car in their private time.

• A sustainable alternative to the Christmas gift box. For example by giving employees the option to donate the costs of their Christmas gift to a green charity. The employer might even consider doubling the amount in that case. We also see that employees are given a voucher for spending at local sustainable businesses.

• ‘Rewarding’ the choice for a sustainable holiday. You could award extra holidays to employees if they go on holiday using a sustainable means of transport, like the train, the bicycle or the electric car. This way, flying is discouraged and employees are compensated for the longer travel time they have if they choose to use a greener means of transport for their holidays. An alternative option is to increase the holiday allowance if employees use a greener means of transport to go on holiday.

• A sustainable telephone and laptop scheme. In practice, employees are often allowed to choose a new telephone or laptop after two years already. This term could be extended to four years, for example (unless the device breaks down earlier). You could also offer employees a refurbished telephone or laptop, or a discount on the next device if they hand in the old device for recycling. This is a way to fight overconsumption.

• A “green” work from home policy. Stimulation (through a work from home allowance) and facilitation (through solid work from home equipment) results in a reduction of travel movements, which impacts positively on carbon emissions. A circular work from home policy may also contribute: you could facilitate desks and desk chairs of recycled material. You could also give materials for working from home on loan, so that these can be reused when an employee no longer needs them.

• Choosing a green pension fund that invests in, for example, sustainable energy projects rather than in the fossil fuel industry.

• Offering your employees financial support for making their home more sustainable. A one-off contribution could be given to employees who want to install solar panels or to have their house properly insulated.

• Offering employees the option of spending part of their annual working time on ‘green’ CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities (during working hours).

The introducing of green employment conditions is usually not problematic, since these often take the form of “little extras” for employees who make sustainable choices. This is different when abandoning or changing non-green employment conditions (e.g. reducing the number of leased cars for sustainability objectives). Such measures may be met with resistance from employees. It depends strongly on the circumstances of a case whether non-green employment conditions can simply be unilaterally changed or abandoned. This should be assessed in each individual situation.

Are you an employer who wants to introduce green employment conditions? Or do you want to know whether you can change a non-green employment condition unilaterally or abandon it? Do you have questions about the practical implementation of the above? Or can you show us a good example of how you encourage ‘green’ choices by your employees? Please contact Noor Sluis.