The parties to the employment contract can agree that in accordance with Section 107 Para. 2 Sentence 1 GewO, part of the remuneration is paid in the form of a benefit in kind if this corresponds to the interest of the employee or the nature of the employment relationship.
Benefit in kind iSd. A provision is a service provided by the employer to the employee in return for the services rendered in a form other than money. The benefit in kind can be offset against the part of the wages that cannot be seized according to Section 107 Paragraph. 2 Sentence 5 GewO excluded. According to the decision of the Ninth Senate of February 17, 2009 ( 9 AZR 676/07 ), the provision of work clothing to the employee and its care and replacement by the employer are generally not in reciprocity with the work owed by the employee and therefore do not constitute a benefit in kind iSv. § 107 para. 2 sentence 1 GewO.
A contractual clause according to which the employee has to contribute to the costs must not unfairly disadvantage the employee (Section 307 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 in conjunction with Section 307 Paragraph 2 BGB). If a flat-rate cost contribution has been effectively agreed, the employer is entitled to withhold this from the employee’s monthly net salary. However, he must take into account the seizure limits of Sections 850 ff. ZPO.