How to obtain and use restaurant vouchers?

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

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

If the employer chooses to award restaurant vouchers, it decides on the number of restaurant vouchers awarded.

The employee can only benefit from of one title per meal included in its schedule working daily.

This benefit applies to the employee full or part-time, to the employee acting and to the trainee.

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

If the employee wishes not use them, it is recommended to inform your employer in writing.

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

• Restaurants and certain similar traders (cold cuts, caterers, bakeries, food distribution shops, etc.)
• Fruit and vegetable retailers.

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

• Restaurants and certain similar traders (cold cuts, caterers, bakeries, food distribution shops, etc.)
• Fruit and vegetable retailers.

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

• Cooked dishes or prepared salads
• Sandwiches
• Fruits and vegetables, dairy products, etc.

Restaurant vouchers are valid until 31 December 2026 for the purchase of any food product, whether or not directly consumable.

Restaurant vouchers are personal. The employee is the only person who can use it.

He can use his restaurant vouchers on working days only, unless he is required to work on Sundays or public holidays.

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

When using a card or an application on his smartphone, the employee is charged the exact amount to pay.

If the employee uses paper securities, the merchant has no right to give him change.

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

The employer may grant the employee valid titles outside these limits if he makes business trips.

The employer can give the employee vouchers in several formats:

• Paper tickets in the form of a checkbook
• Prepaid and rechargeable smart card (can be used in the same terminals as bank cards)
• Access to an application on the mobile phone (smartphone)

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

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

When the employee leaves the company with unused restaurant vouchers, he hands them over 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 vouchers.

The restaurant voucher is partly funded by the employer, who must mandatory take charge between 50% and 60% of its value. He stays between 40% and 50% the value of the ticket payable by the employee.

A company that decides to set up a restaurant voucher system for its staff must obtain them from one of the private businesses that specialize in issuing vouchers.

The employer must settle the order for the restaurant vouchers no later than the delivery of the vouchers and for their full value.

The company issuing the securities must redeem the securities presented to it by the businesses 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 date of delivery.

To be exempt from social security contributions, the employer's contribution must be between 50% and 60% of its value and within the limit of €7.32 by title for 2026 securities.

If the employer's contribution exceeds this limit (which is not prohibited), the portion of the contribution that exceeds the legal ceiling is reinstated in the basis of social security contributions of the company.