Can the worker decide where to receive the food allowance?

Can the worker choose where to receive their food allowance?

According to Dantas Rodrigues, in the column of Notícias ao Minuto, "Works and (un)complicated taxes" on work, personal finances and taxes, the food allowance is not remunerative.

This is a "social benefit granted by companies (that so decide) to employees, in order to compensate for meals made outside the residence and during working hours", as stated in the column.

The amount set for meal allowance for public administration workers takes into account the Regulation No. 107-A/2023, which establishes a value of 6 euros per day.

Currently, it is possible to receive the subsidy in two ways: "In cash, in which case it is exempt from IRS up to the value of 6€ per day; or through meal voucher card, in which case it is exempt from IRS up to the value of 9.60€ per day, being only paid for the days of actual work," explains Dantas Rodrigues.

This right is reserved for public employees, not covered by private sector workers, since it was introduced by Decree-Law No. 305/77 and has not been extended in the Labor Code or any other legal diploma.

Therefore, not being a legal right guaranteed to workers, as a rule "they cannot refuse their payment in card or in cash, since there is no legal obligation for the company to pay the food allowance or how to pay it," it further reads.  

However, the possibility of the worker and the employer negotiating the payment of the meal allowance, its value and method of payment, is not excluded from this.

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