€28m of service cheques in the bin

Service cheques totalling €28 million are thrown away every year in Belgium, according to figures circulated by Sodexo and the National Employment Office (ONEM). Sodexo service cheques – with which you can pay for domestic help – are worth €7.50 each and are valid for eight months. Each year, around 3.5 million cheques go to waste because they haven’t been used within the allocated period. For federal MP Stefaan Vercamer, “simple procedures must be implemented to allow for the extension of the validity of the service cheques or their reimbursement”. Since 2004, a total of €207 million worth of service cheques have been thrown away. As per the contract binding Sodexo to ONEM, the former pays the latter the entire worth of the out-of-date service cheques.