“Wages” must be taken to mean the overall remuneration of the employee, including, in addition to cash payments, any other incidental advantages and payments, such as in particular bonuses, increments, discounts, premiums, free accommodation and other items of the same kind.
The value of benefits in kind may be freely determined by the employer and his employee in the employment contract.
It is absolutely essential that the employee’s employment contract expressly provides an exact and detailed breakdown of the amount of cash remuneration and the value of remuneration in kind, in accordance with Article L.121-4(2), subparagraph 7, of the Labour Code.
In addition, the value of remuneration in kind must be mentioned in the employment contract so that it is actually chargeable against the employee’s wages.
It is clear from a judgment of the Court of Appeal that, provided that a company car is made available to an employee for both professional and private purposes, that vehicle is not merely a working tool which the employee is required to return to his employer as soon as he stops working in the event of release from work, but that the availability of a vehicle represents, as regards the time when it is used for private purposes, a benefit in kind of which the employee cannot be deprived by reason of a release from work granted to him during the notice period.
Thus, the foregoing does not apply in the case of a company car whose use is limited solely to work purposes.
It is therefore incumbent upon an employee who claims a benefit in kind represented by a company vehicle to prove his private use of the company vehicle. Moreover, it is necessary to examine the provisions of the employment contract.