Definition: Meal vouchers, an optional benefit
Meal vouchers are an optional benefit that companies can implement to allow their employees to pay for all or part of the cost of meals "included in their daily working hours."
Principle of equal treatment
Like any benefit, the allocation of meal vouchers must respect the principle of equal treatment. Therefore, they must be available, under the same conditions, to all employees in a similar or comparable situation.
A difference in treatment is only permitted when it is based on objective and relevant criteria, excluding any discrimination: for example, it has been accepted to reserve meal vouchers only for employees whose home is located more than 10 minutes from the workplace ( CA Nîmes, March 27, 2012, No. 10-41.44 ).
Employees working remotely and meal vouchers
the Covid-19 forcing many companies to adopt teleworking, the question inevitably arose as to whether employees working remotely could retain the benefits they enjoyed when they were on site, and in particular meal vouchers.
More specifically, the question that arose was whether meal vouchers, allocated to on-site employees, can be refused to teleworking employees because they are teleworking.
Two recent decisions have provided contradictory answers to this question.
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They are not in a comparable situation for the Nanterre judicial court
In a decision dated March 10, 2021, the court ruled that employees working remotely were not required to bear the additional cost of meals eaten outside the home, and therefore employers could refuse to provide them with meal vouchers. The judges specifically considered that employees working remotely "are doing so from their homes ," which, in their view, meant there was no such additional cost, since they could prepare their meals at home.
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They are in a similar situation with regard to the Paris judicial court
In a decision dated March 30, 2021, the court ruled that the employer in the case at hand had failed to demonstrate that employees working remotely were in a situation distinct from that of on-site employees, based on the purpose of meal vouchers. The judges reiterated that the purpose of these vouchers, according to applicable regulations, was to allow employees to have a meal when their lunch break falls within their daily working hours. Therefore, in light of this purpose, an employee working remotely, when their meal break falls within their working hours, is not in a situation distinct from that of an on-site employee.
The judges also rejected the employer's argument that teleworking employees were entitled to a kitchen, adopting, contrary to the Nanterre court, a strict interpretation of the definition of teleworking given in Article L. 1222-9 of the French Labor Code . These provisions define teleworking as a form of work organization that allows work to be performed outside the company premises, without being limited to the employee's home, using information and communication technologies.
Reviews of meal vouchers
The position of the Paris Judicial Court appears to us to be better grounded, from a legal standpoint, than that of the Nanterre Judicial Court. Indeed, a reading of the aforementioned Article L. 1222-9 does not limit teleworking to work performed at the employee's home. Furthermore, the purpose of meal vouchers is to allow employees to pay for meals they must eat during their working hours, which can apply to employees teleworking, particularly if they do not work from home or if they are unable to prepare a meal, for example, due to time constraints.
The mere fact that an employee is teleworking cannot, in our view, given the applicable regulations, constitute an objective and relevant criterion justifying a difference in treatment with employees on site regarding the allocation of meal vouchers.
Urssaf's position
It should be noted that the position of the Paris Judicial Court aligns with that of the Urssaf (French social security agency). The Urssaf considers that if a company has a meal voucher scheme, teleworkers whose day begins before and ends after the lunch break should be able to benefit from it, provided that their working conditions are equivalent to those of workers carrying out their activity on the company premises.
