The meal voucher, also called a meal ticket, table check or even a restaurant ticket, tends to become dematerialized to make way for a card or a mobile application. A virtual ticket that facilitates exact payment, accounting of the remaining balance and management of validity dates. Who can benefit from it? How to use them? How long are they valid? Can you pay for your shopping with restaurant vouchers? Explanations!
Capital Video: Restaurant voucher: ceiling, use and validity period
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What are meal vouchers?
Meal voucher: definition
Restaurant vouchers (or meal vouchers) are payment vouchers intended to cover all or part of employees’ meals during their working days. The meal voucher is a solution which allows employees who do not have a canteen in their company to eat outside (in a restaurant or food store). Provided by employers to their employees as a social benefit, they allow a meal to be fully or partially financed.
Edenred Restaurant voucher, lunch voucher, Restaurant pass, Bimpli, Swile… the different types of restaurant vouchers
There are several companies that issue meal vouchers:
- Edenred Restaurant voucher
- Up (formerly called Lunch voucher)
- Natixis and its dematerialized Bimpli card
- Sodexo and its Restaurant Pass
- Swile and his 100% virtual card
These companies come together within the Central Securities Settlement structure (CRT).
To note : the restaurant voucher is not convertible, the merchant cannot therefore give change if the total amount is not reached.
What hiring assistance can employers benefit from?
Who is entitled to meal vouchers?
Permanent contract, part-time, internship… all employees of the company
Considered as a social benefit, it must be granted to all employees (full-time, part-time, temporary workers and interns). However, certain employees are exceptions:
- those absent from their workplace due to sick leave, work accident, paid leave, etc.;
- part-time workers whose working day ends before or begins after the lunch break.
To note : teleworking employees benefit from the same meal voucher rights.
A personal meal voucher
Personal and nominative, meal vouchers can only be used by the beneficiary employee and cannot be resold.
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Business and meal vouchers: what are the rules and obligations?
The meal voucher is not an obligation
The meal voucher is a social benefit that is very appreciated by employees, but which is not obligatory for the employer.
- The employer has the option of providing a canteen instead or paying the employee a lunch bonus.
- From 25 employees, the company is obliged to provide a real catering premises, with facilities for preserving and reheating food.
An amount determined by the employer
When a company provides meal vouchers to its employees, it must cover 50 to 60% of their value. Employees pay the remaining 40 to 50%. For example, for a 15 euro ticket, the employer must pay 7.50 to 9 euros and the employee 6 to 7.50 euros. The company’s contribution to meal vouchers is exempt from social security contributions, up to a ceiling set each year.
Gross and net salary: how to calculate?
Can you refuse meal vouchers as an employee?
Yes, the employee can refuse meal vouchers. He must then inform his employer in writing. However, it is a non-taxable income supplement, which helps reduce meal costs.
What is the maximum amount of a restaurant voucher in 2025?
Amount of the meal voucher
There is no fixed amount for meal vouchers. Indeed, each employer can choose the amount of their choice. However, it is influenced by the legal limits imposed on the financial contribution of employers by the National Commission for Meal Vouchers (CNTR). Namely the threshold for exemption from social security contributions and the maximum coverage of 60% by the employer. On average, in 2022, employer participation amounted to height of 8.25 euros.
Restaurant ticket ceiling
The authorized payment limit per day and per person is 25 euros since October 1, 2022. If the employee pays with a paper restaurant receipt, the merchant does not have the right to give them change.
Quality of life at work (QVT): instructions for employees and companies
How do restaurant vouchers work?
They can only be used on working days
It is only possible to pay with meal vouchers on working days. They cannot therefore be used on Sundays and public holidays. Employees who work on Sundays must obtain special authorization from their employer.
Mobile or card payment
The restaurant receipt, small pieces of paper well known to employees which flourish during weekday lunches, is tending to disappear to make way for its dematerialized form. A meal voucher can now take the form of a bank card or a smartphone application.
Dematerialized meal voucher
The advantages for the user are real: they can pay the exact amount of their meal, file a claim in the event of loss or theft, and simply exchange the tickets when they approach their expiry date. On the other hand, dematerialization no longer makes it possible to deviate from the legal framework, such as paying with meal vouchers on a Sunday (except for exceptions).
End of paper restaurant vouchers
By 2026, paper meal vouchers will no longer exist. Contactless payment will be made by card or with your phone.
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Where to use your meal vouchers?
The preferred destination for using restaurant vouchers is the restaurants themselves. But supermarkets, bakeries, caterers, greengrocers can also be part of the networks that accept payments with meal vouchers. They must be used for foods to be consumed immediately or which will be used in the preparation of a meal, such as ready meals, sandwiches, fruits and vegetables, etc.
Can I pay for my supermarket shopping with a meal voucher?
Extension of the purchase of directly or not directly consumable food products in 2024
In October 2022, the government put in place a system allowing you to pay for food shopping with your restaurant vouchers. And this, to fight against food inflation. It was due to end on December 31, 2023, but the government then opted to extend it until the end of 2024. It was therefore still possible to buy non-consumable food products immediately, such as rice, pasta, vegetables, meat, dairy products…
Will we still be able to pay for our groceries in 2025 with a meal ticket?
The system was to continue in 2025, but the adoption of the motion of censure which led to the resignation of the Barnier government in December 2024 put a pause on the deliberations on this subject. Examination of the text should resume from January 15.
Labor law: what employees need to know
Until when are 2024 restaurant vouchers valid?
Restaurant tickets still valid at the start of 2025
Meal vouchers can be used during the year of issue, which is usually indicated on the voucher. They are still valid at the very beginning of the following year, for one or two months depending on the format:
- until January 31, 2025 for meal vouchers in paper format;
- until February 28, 2025 for electronic tickets.
Expired meal vouchers
After the expiry date, indicated on the title, it is possible to exchange expired titles with your employer for fifteen days for new ones which will be valid for the current year. Another possibility is to donate it to associations.
Reimbursement of unused tickets
An employee who leaves his company can request reimbursement of unused meal vouchers.
Can you declare your restaurant vouchers for taxes?
As a salary benefit, the restaurant voucher is not subject to income tax or social charges.
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