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The restaurant voucher (restaurant voucher, table check, etc.) tends to become dematerialized to make way for a card or a mobile application. A virtual ticket that facilitates exact payment, the accounting of the remaining balance, the management of validity dates. How to use them? How long are they valid? Explanations!
Capital Video: Restaurant vouchers: ceiling, use and validity period
© PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP
– Restaurant vouchers, lunch vouchers, restaurant vouchers
What are meal vouchers?
Restaurant voucher: definition
Meal 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 that allows employees who do not have a canteen in their company to eat outside.
They are provided by employers to their employees as a social benefit.
Edenred Restaurant vouchers, lunch vouchers, restaurant passes… the different types of restaurant vouchers
There are several types of meal vouchers:
- Edenred Restaurant Ticket
- Lunch voucher
- Restaurant pass
- Table check
Thanks to this meal voucher, the employee can finance his meal entirely or in part.
For working days
Meal vouchers can only be used on working days and therefore cannot be used on Sundays and public holidays.
Employer permission is required for employees working on these days.
What hiring assistance can employers benefit from?
Who is entitled to meal vouchers?
For 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).
One meal voucher per day worked
An employee is entitled to one meal voucher per working day and only if the meal takes place during working hours.
During an absence (paid leave, RTT, illness, etc.), the employee does not benefit from meal vouchers.
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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 popular with employees, but 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 required to provide a proper catering facility, with facilities for storing and reheating food.
An amount determined by the employer
Each meal voucher has a face value which is set by the employer. However, this amount is restricted by two obligations:
- 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%.
- The company’s contribution to meal vouchers is exempt from social security contributions, up to a ceiling set each year (7.18 euros for 2024 vouchers).
Gross and net salary: how to calculate it?
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 tax-free income supplement that helps reduce meal costs.
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What is the maximum amount of a restaurant voucher in 2024?
Amount of the meal voucher
There is no fixed amount for meal vouchers. In fact, each employer can choose the amount of their choice.
However, it is influenced by legal limits imposed on the financial contribution of employers.
The company’s contribution is exempt from social security contributions up to a limit of 7.18 euros according to the National Commission for Restaurant Vouchers (CNTR).
Meal voucher ceiling
The payment ceiling authorized per day and per person is 25 euros since October 1, 2022.
If the employee pays with paper meal vouchers, the trader does not have the right to give him change.
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How do meal vouchers work?
Mobile or card payment
The restaurant voucher, small pieces of paper well known to employees which appear at lunchtime during the week, 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, and can continue to be used in restaurants and certain stores.
Dematerialized restaurant voucher
The advantages for the user are real: he can pay the exact amount of his meal, object in the event of loss or theft, and simply exchange the vouchers when they approach their expiry date.
On the other hand, dematerialization no longer allows for exceptions to 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 meal vouchers is the restaurants themselves. But supermarkets, bakeries, caterers, greengrocers, can also be part of the networks that accept payments with meal vouchers.
They should 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.
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Can I shop with meal vouchers?
Purchase of directly consumable food products
In October 2022, the government set up a system allowing people to pay for their food shopping with restaurant vouchers. This was to combat food inflation.
Purchase of food products not directly consumable
It was due to end on December 31, 2023, but the government has opted to extend the system until the end of 2024.
It is therefore still possible to buy food products that cannot be consumed immediately, such as rice, pasta, vegetables, meat, dairy products, etc.
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Until when are the 2024 restaurant vouchers valid?
Meal vouchers still valid at the start of 2025
Meal vouchers can be used during the year of issue, which is usually shown on the voucher.
They are still valid at the very beginning of the following year, for one or two months. It will therefore be possible to pay with your 2024 meal vouchers until January 31, 2025.
Expired meal vouchers
After the expiry date, indicated on the title, it is possible to exchange expired titles with your employer for a period of fifteen days for new ones which will be valid for the current year.
Otherwise, it is also possible to donate it to associations.
Reimbursement of unused titles
An employee who leaves his company can request the reimbursement of unused vouchers.
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