No, the employer is not obliged to give restaurant vouchers to his employee.

It may also choose to make available to it a canteen or dining room or pay him a lunch bonus.

If the employer chooses to grant restaurant vouchers, the employee is entitled to one voucher per meal included in his daily working hours.

This right applies to the employee full or part-time, to the employee temporary worker and trainee.

The employee is not obliged to accept restaurant vouchers. One collective agreement may provide for that obligation.

If the employee does not wish to use them, it is recommended to inform his employer in writing.

The employee can pay for all or part of his meal with his restaurant vouchers in the following places:

• Restaurants and certain similar businesses (delicatessens, caterers, bakeries, food distribution businesses, etc.)
• Fruit and Vegetable Retailers

The vouchers are valid for food that is immediately consumable or that will be used to prepare the employee's meal:

• Prepared dishes or salads
• Sandwiches
• Fruit and vegetables, dairy products, etc.

Restaurant vouchers are valid until 31 december 2024 for the purchase of any food product, whether or not it is directly consumable.

The restaurant titles are personal. The employee is the only person who can use it.

He can use his restaurant titles working days only, unless he works on Sundays or public holidays.

The employee may use his restaurant vouchers up to €25 per day.

When using a card or app on their smartphone, the employee is charged the exact amount to be paid.

If the employee uses paper securities, the trader is not allowed to give it back.

The employee can pay for meals by restaurant vouchers only in the department where he works and in the neighboring departments.

The employer may grant the employee securities valid outside these limits if he travels for work.

The employer may issue the employee with securities in several formats:

• Checkbook paper tickets
• Prepaid and rechargeable smart card (usable in the same terminals as bank cards)
• Access to an app on the mobile phone (smartphone)

When the employee benefits from a card or an application on his smartphone, he can access for free (by SMS for example) the balance of his personal restaurant voucher account.

Restaurant vouchers can be used during calendar year of their issue and in January and February of the following year.

When the employee leaves the company with unused restaurant vouchers, they are returned to the employer. The employer reimburses the employee for the amount of his participation in the purchase of these securities.

The employer freely determines the amount of the value of the restaurant securities.

The restaurant is partly financed by the employer, who must obligatory to take over between 50% and 60% of its value. He's staying in 40% and 50% the value of the ticket payable by the employee.

A company that decides to set up a system of restaurant vouchers for its employees must obtain them from one of the private businesses specializing in the issue of vouchers.

The employer must pay for the purchase of the restaurant vouchers at the latest on delivery of the vouchers and for their full discharge value.

The company issuing the securities must reimburse those presented to it by the shops authorized to accept them in the course of their commercial activity. This reimbursement must take place within a maximum period of 21 days from the delivery date.

In order to be exempt from social security contributions, the employer's contribution must be within the limit of €7.18 by security for 2024 securities.

If the employer's contribution exceeds this limit (which is not prohibited), the portion of the contribution exceeding the legal limit is reinstated in the social contribution base company.