An employer may provide accommodation to an employee in two ways:
- through a residential lease separate from the employment contract; or
- as part of the employment contract, as a benefit linked to it. The accommodation is then ancillary to the employment contract and is not subject to rental regulations.
In the latter case, the employee must vacate the accommodation upon termination of their employment contract.
In case of doubt as to the regime applicable to the accommodation, the judge must seek to establish the common intention of the parties on the basis of the evidence submitted to them.
In this case, the provision of accommodation by the employer and the conclusion of the employment contract were concurrent. The certificate relating to this provision expressly stated that it would end on the date of termination of the employment contract. The accommodation provided to the employee was located on the company’s premises, and the price charged for its occupation was below market value. In the judge’s view, the parties therefore had the common intention of providing the employee with accommodation ancillary to the employment contract. The end of the contract therefore resulted in the loss of the right to accommodation.
