Flexibility, health, CSR: why your company should adopt an employer mobility plan
The introduction of a mobility plan, also known by the acronym PDM or PDME, is a new obligation with which most organizations must now contend.
However, in addition to its legal aspects, it also offers a response to the challenges of sustainable development, as well as to current societal issues by contributing to quality of life at work.
What does the MDP involve, and what types of measures should be adopted as part of its deployment? Does it apply to all companies? This article takes a look at all these questions, and also gives you some valuable advice on setting up an employer mobility plan.
Mobility plan: definition
What is an employer mobility plan?
The mobility plan (formerly known as the company travel plan) is defined as a set of measures designed to optimize employee travel in the context of their professional activity.
Consequently, it concerns both :
- journeys between the employee's home and workplace,
- various business trips (visits to partners, customers, suppliers, etc.),
- and the transport of goods.
What are its objectives?
The primary benefit of the mobility plan lies in better traffic regulation to reduce the negative impact of business trips on the environment (reduction of atmospheric pollution and greenhouse gases).
But it also aims to enhance employee well-being, by advocating measures to improve their transport and working conditions, such as the development of flexibility (telecommuting, flexible working hours, etc.). By extension, the MDP contributes to the good health of employees, thanks, for example, to the promotion of cycling, or the reduction of stress linked to traffic and traffic jams.
💡 Implementing a mobility plan helps spread a positive image of your brand or company. While this kind of commitment may appeal to your customers, above all it helps to embellish your employer brand, and thus attract and retain the best talent.
Mobility plan: compulsory for employers?
The legal obligations relating to the MDP were introduced in two stages:
- Since January 1, 2018, and in accordance with Article 51 of the French Law on Energy Transition for Green Growth (LTECV), companies :
- with more than 100 employees on a single site,
- and located within the perimeter of the urban travel plan (PDU),
are required to draw up a mobility plan and submit it to their local mobility authority (AOM).
- Since 2019, as part of the Loi d'orientation des mobilités, the PDM also concerns companies with more than 50 employees. The structures concerned are required to include the issue of improving employee mobility in their mandatory annual negotiations (NAO). If no agreement is reached, a mobility plan must be drawn up.
It should be noted, however, that no penalties have actually been imposed on employers who fail to play the game. On the other hand, if they fail to take the necessary steps, they will be unable to claim financial assistance from ADEME (Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie).
☝️ Good to know: to simplify procedures, several different companies operating on the same site can draw up an inter-company mobility plan together.
Employer mobility plan: 7 examples of measures
As part of the mobility plan, companies work to implement concrete actions to :
- promote alternative modes of transport,
- combat self-driving cars,
- adapt the working environment accordingly.
The measures adopted can be of various kinds. Here are a few examples to illustrate what we mean:
1. Cycling
The MDP often includes the promotion of bicycle use. Some organizations opt for :
- providing a bicycle garage,
- building bicycle paths
- introducing a company bicycle service,
- subsidizing the purchase of electric bikes, etc.
2. Public transport
More and more companies are paying for all or part of their employees' public transport season tickets , to encourage them to give up their cars.
Another example: some employers are approaching local authorities to negotiate improved public transport links to their sites.
3. Flexibility in the workplace
Offering more flexible working hours allows employees to avoid commuting during peak hours.
Another example is the development of telecommuting, which simply eliminates the need to travel to and from work.
4. Car-sharing
Car-sharing can be encouraged by making a fleet of vehicles available on a self-service basis, for both business and home-work journeys.
5. Car-sharing
Car-pooling is undoubtedly the most common form of shared mobility in the workplace. Although it is often organized on an informal basis between employees, the company can contribute to the deployment of this formula by, for example, registering employees on specialized platforms.
6. Electric vehicles
Electric cars are both economical and environmentally friendly. That's why more and more organizations are choosing this type of vehicle for their business fleet.
7. Local housing
One way of encouraging local housing is for employers to help employees rent or buy accommodation close to their place of work.
Examples of different mobility plans across Europe:
How to set up a company mobility plan?
Step 1: preparing the employer mobility plan
As with any project, setting up an employer mobility plan requires a preparation phase. The aim of this stage is to answer a number of questions:
- What is the company's objective? For example, to reduce car travel.
- What is the company's environment?
- How involved will employees be in the project?
Preparing a mobility plan also involves :
- appointing a project manager, responsible for ensuring that the plan runs smoothly ;
- setting up a steering committee
- setting up working groups, bringing together employees, management and other key players such as transport service providers.
Step 2: Establish a diagnosis
This involves taking stock of where the company stands in terms of its mobility policy:
- What are the existing infrastructures, both at company and regional level?
- How accessible is it?
- Does the public transport network adequately serve the site? Etc.
Drawing up a diagnosis also involves auditing employees in order to assess :
- their transportation habits,
- their needs,
- their position and state of mind with regard to future changes.
Step 3: Create an action plan
Once the objectives have been set and the diagnosis established, it's time to determine :
- the different phases of the mobility plan deployment project,
- the concrete nature of the actions to be undertaken , and the steps to be taken,
- how to implement them, in terms of new mobility routes, internal communication and employee awareness.
To achieve this, the action plan must take into account the company's human, technical and financial constraints.
Stage 4: implementing the mobility plan
This fourth phase involves the actual implementation of the actions identified above, according to a pre-established timetable.
At each stage, we recommend that you communicate with your employees to involve them fully in the project and facilitate their buy-in to the change.
💡 The use of a mobility solution makes it easier to carry out the PDM.
Skipr, for example, is an all-in-one tool, comprising an application and a payment card. Employees can book and pay for their mobility solution (carpooling, electric bikes, car-sharing, etc.) in just a few clicks.
Sharvy, the shared space management solution , can also help you implement your mobility plan. Thanks to its web and mobile application, all employees can easily check availability and reserve a parking space. No more headaches: the tool's algorithm even automatically allocates spaces according to predefined criteria!
Step 5: Evaluate the mobility plan
By evaluating its mobility plan, using monitoring indicators, the organization is able to attest to its effectiveness and measure the real consequences of the actions deployed.
Don't neglect this step, because by assessing the scope of the measures taken, you can readjust them if necessary to make your mobility plan even more effective.
Article translated from French