The beginning of summer is, for many, a time to receive their holiday subsidy, but this extra amount in the paycheck usually comes with a missing portion: the meal allowance. Why?
In practice, when companies pay the holiday subsidy, they do not pay the meal allowance. There are two reasons for this: firstly, the meal allowance is not mandatory and, secondly, even when it is paid, it is not due during vacations.
The non-payment of the meal allowance can, however, be paid together with the holiday subsidy and deducted later in August, for example, as is the case for some state workers.
As lawyer Rita Frade Pina from PRA – Raposo, Sá Miranda & Associados explained, the “meal allowance presupposes the actual provision of work and compensation for the need for the worker to have a meal outside their home.”
“During the holidays, there is no work being provided, so there is no right to the meal allowance, lest such an allowance be considered as remuneration and taxed as such,” she explained.
Is the meal allowance mandatory?
The meal allowance is a benefit aimed at compensating the expenses of a meal during the workday, but it is not included in the Labor Code, which means its payment is not mandatory.
“This benefit is not mandatory and can, in certain cases, be replaced by the provision of meals by the employer (for example, in educational establishments or companies with their own cafeteria),” explains DECO Proteste.
According to the consumer protection organization, the meal allowance is “a daily benefit directly related to the actual provision of work,” but “it is not part of subsidies, nor is it paid in the event of justified absences with loss of pay.”
What does the law say?
Regardless, even those entitled to the meal allowance should not receive it during holidays, according to what is provided by law: “The meal allowance corresponds to the monetary amount paid by the employer to the worker for each workday (which excludes holidays, public holidays, absences, or other non-working days), as a form of compensating for the daily costs or expenses incurred with the meal during the workday.”
“The meal allowance does not generally have a salary or remuneration nature, unless its value exceeds the amount considered normal or when, by contract or employment practices, it is considered an integral element of the worker’s remuneration,” as stated in the Diário da República.
What is the amount to receive?
This means that “there are no minimum or maximum mandatory values for the payment of this salary supplement in any private company.”
For public sector workers, the “value is stipulated in the State Budget“, with it being six euros per day. This daily amount often serves as a reference for a minimum value, but there is no rule.
It’s worth remembering that the tax-free allowance (IRS and Social Security) for the meal allowance paid via card increased to 10.20 euros this year, as part of the OE2025. There was no change in the cash payment, with the exemption remaining at six euros.
