As of the 1st of January 2024 (the intended effective date), employers with 100 employees or more will have to submit annual reports about employment-related passenger mobility. This concerns the total number of business and commuting kilometres covered by employees. On 16 May 2023, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management published a manual with practical tips and methods for retrieving the information required.
Background
We have written earlier that the reporting obligation of employers follows from the National Climate Agreement of the Netherlands. It was agreed in the National Climate Agreement that employment-related passenger transport should be reduced by 1 megaton of CO2 by 2030. On the basis of the data reported by employers, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management will monitor whether the reduction target set will be achieved in 2030. The intended effective date was initially the 1st of January 2023. Since this proved not practicable, this date was adjusted to the 1st of January 2024.
Manual for employers
The manual describes when an employer has the obligation to report, which data should be reported exactly, and how an employer can collect these data. If the data have been collected according to the manual, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management assumes that the employer can demonstrate that he has acted with due care.
The manual includes the following instructions:
- Employers have to report the total number of kilometres travelled by employees per kind of means of transport and type of fuel. The following means of transport are discerned: car, motorcycle, moped/motor scooter, (e)bike, walking, and public transport. Travels by plane, boat or ship are excepted from the obligation to report.
- It should also be specified whether mobility is business or commuting mobility. Business mobility refers to all trips employees make for their work, with the exception of commuting mobility. Business mobility consists of a corporate lease and/or an own car fleet, business mobility services, and business expense claims. Commuting mobility is the travelling of employees between their place of residence and the fixed work location. Travels between the various branches of an employer is also covered by this definition.
- Employers are not required to keep a record of, to calculate, or to enter the CO2 emissions themselves. The calculation of the CO2 emissions is made on the basis of the data entered per type of fuel and per means of transport. These data can be completed in a digital form. They are then used to prepare a report. The report gives insight into where the employer stands on the road towards sustainability of commuting and business mobility, and also provides practical information on ways in which the employer can make his organization (even) more sustainable.
- The data have to be submitted before 1 July of the next calendar year. By way of illustration: the data concerning 2024 have to be submitted ultimately on 30 June 2025.
-Employers with fewer than 100 employees may report on a voluntary basis.
Take action on time!
It has been attempted to set up the obligation to report in such a way that it aligns as much as possible with the existing records of employers. If the data required cannot yet be retrieved from existing records directly, the manual offers tips on ways to adjust the records, or suggests and alternative method. Since 2024 is the first year about which employers will have to report, we advise to start preparing for this in good time.
