The home care sector in Wallonia, directly impacted by soaring fuel prices, called on Walloon Health and Social Economy Minister Yves Coppieters for urgent measures on Tuesday.
The joint union front and several federations are advocating for a flat-rate allowance that adequately covers the actual costs associated with their travel.
Currently, existing systems do not address this reality, according to representatives of the sector. They want all kilometres travelled by home care workers and social home helpers to be "fully funded."
"Contrary to some perceptions, home care services cannot compensate for these costs, nor can they pass them on to the recipients," unions and federations emphasise.
"The applicable rates are legally standardised, excluding any increase for users. At the same time, the services lack the necessary resources to finance these travel-related kilometres themselves: the sector remains structurally under-subsidised in this area."
Social partners point out that a mobility protocol was signed to quantify these costs and guarantee their full coverage. However, despite a meeting with Minister Coppieters' office in April 2025, "no concrete progress has been made to date."
In Wallonia, many organisations providing home care and nursing services are structured as non-profit associations (ASBLs), with generally limited financial resources.
Based on the decisions made by the Federal Government last week in response to rising energy prices, these organisations may be asked to increase their employees' mileage allowance, potentially putting their finances under strain. One proposed solution is to ask employers to increase the mileage allowance by a maximum of 10 cents, an effort offset by a tax credit.
Yves Coppieters had stated his readiness to take "exceptional, targeted, and temporary" measures to assist Walloon non-profit organisations implementing the federal government's measures to support workers facing rising fuel prices.
