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Case-law
Can the company vehicle be considered an advantage in kind?
Publié le 03 avril 2026 - Entreprendre Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
A benefit in kind is a good, product or service that is provided by the employer to the employee free of charge or at a price below its real value and that would normally correspond to a personal expense of the employee. In fact, can a service vehicle meet this definition? In a judgment of 14 January 2026, the Cour de cassation ruled on this issue.
An employee had a service vehicle to make his business trips. When the employer removes that vehicle from him, he no longer goes to work and is dismissed for serious misconduct, because of abandonment of position. He took the matter to court, explaining that the grant of that vehicle constituted an advantage in kind which could not be withdrawn arbitrarily.
The Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the employee. In its view, the removal of the service vehicle was not motivated by misuse. In addition, it notes that the vehicle allowed the employee to go to his workplace given his disability of 2/3.
The employer appeals to the Court of Cassation.
The Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal. She held that the employer:
- never claimed that the employee misused the vehicle (i.e. for personal use);
- had agreed that the employee would keep the vehicle at home;
- had replaced a previous service vehicle without any problem, when it had been stolen on a Sunday, in front of the house.
Thus, the employee had “permanently” of the company vehicle he used for his professional and personal journeys. This vehicle was therefore a benefit in kind.
The dismissal of the employee was thus without real and serious cause.