Meal vouchers

What it means

Meal vouchers are food vouchers with which an employer meets its duty to provide meals for staff when it has no canteen of its own or contracted catering. Today they often take the form of an electronic card that employees use to pay in restaurants and food shops.

The meal duty comes from the Labour Code and applies to an employee who works more than four hours in a shift. The employer pays a statutory share of each meal and the employee pays the rest, usually by deduction from pay.

Since a right of choice was introduced, an employee can opt for a cash meal allowance paid with their wages instead of vouchers. Both forms fall under the meal contribution and follow similar limits derived from the meal allowance for business trips.

How it works in practice

The value of a voucher must reach at least the statutory minimum, and the employer pays at least 55 % of it. The employer's contribution within the statutory limits is tax-deductible for the employer and exempt from tax and contributions for the employee, making it an efficient form of reward.

The employer can top up meals from the social fund, reducing the employee's share. Such rules are best set out in a collective agreement or internal policy so that it is clear how the contribution is calculated for every employee.

Payroll must track the number of days worked that carry a meal entitlement, because no voucher is due for leave, sick leave or a business trip with a meal allowance. Mistakes in this record lead to wrong deductions and, in an inspection, to additional tax and contributions.

What to watch out for

If the employer provides more than the statutory limits allow, the excess may no longer be exempt and can become taxable benefit in kind for the employee. When the limits change, the voucher value and contribution should be adjusted in time.

Meal vouchers are a statutory duty, not a voluntary perk, even though staff often see them as part of their employee benefits. Additional voluntary contributions, for example through cafeteria benefits, are assessed under their own rules.