Everyone has had at least one moment in life when their eyes have lit up at the sight of food after a long day full of hard work! Everyone loves food. Food is a scientifically proven mood and energy booster and a very important part of the day. That is why, if you are an employer who cares about your employees, employee meal cards are a great idea!
Key takeaways from this article- Meal cards are cards that a company provides to its employees in order to have access to free or discounted food. Meal cards also give employees an array of different foods to choose among. Meal cards are a great benefit to offer to employees and can be super advantageous for not just the employees but also for the employer.
Fun fact- According to surveys, food is directly linked with happiness!
What are Meal Cards?
Meal cards are cards that are offered to employees, as an employee benefit, to eat meals in the office or at outside restaurants. Put simply, meal vouchers are a form of payment for meals. These cards are typically for lunch ie. meals during working hours. Meal cards were originally in the form of paper tickets but are slowly being replaced by online meal vouchers or electronic cards. This is great as paper tickets are often misplaced and easily damaged. They are a quick and easy alternative to cash or online payments.
According to labour laws, meal cards are not a mandatory employee benefit. However, it is a great benefit to offer to the employees in order to retain employees, attract new talent, increase employee happiness, overall job satisfaction and also productivity and progress. It is also one of the most commonly offered benefits in the workplace.
Why are Meal Card benefits not considered mandatory?
It is generally assumed that the value of food is included in the employee’s salary itself and therefore does not require a separate, special benefit. However, meal cards save employees some extra money by ensuring that they do not have to pay for their meals out of their own pockets during work hours.
Fun fact- The income tax of India recognizes food coupons or meal cards as a tax-exempt entity.
(https://cleartax.in/s/sodexo-meal-card-tax-exemption-benefits)
What are the benefits of meal cards?
There are a lot of benefits of offering meal cards to employees. Let us delve into some of them.
How employees benefit from meal card programs-
Saves money
Perhaps the biggest and most obvious advantage- meal cards save money. With meal cards handy, employees need not spend money out of their own pockets whenever they want to eat outside or in the office canteen, during work hours. Employees need not hesitate or skip meals to avoid the extra expenditure that comes with it.
Hassle-free payments
With meal cards, you can avoid long queues by checking out and paying for your food items yourself. What makes it additionally convenient is that the meal vouchers are worth fixed amounts and therefore the whole hassle of calculation and cash transactions goes out of the window. These cards are also available as e-cards.
Employees get access to a large variety of food with meal cards
Employees can choose from a wide range of options as meal cards are accepted not only in the office canteen but also at a lot of restaurants, cafes and eateries, especially those within or around the office compound. This helps to break the monotony and ensures that employees get to eat the meals that they like.
Meal cards ensure employee health and well-being
Meal cards ensure that employees have access to nutritious, healthy and filling meals instead of just junk and fast food. This takes care of employees’ health and well-being overall.
Meal cards can help with budgeting
As meal cards have a fixed amount and validity, it can help employees to curb their spending. It also makes it easier to calculate/estimate an employee’s monthly expenditure.
How employers benefit from meal card programs-
Meal card programs can help to attract new employees
Employees often keep an eye out for all the employee benefits that a company provides to its employees and meal card benefits are right up there in the list of most appreciated and looked for employee benefits. Companies that provide these benefits have an upper hand over those who do not.
Meal card programs can help with retaining the existing workforce
Having a good meal card program in place can be one of the deciding factors in whether an employee stays at an organisation or starts looking for work elsewhere.
Meal cards are a great way to boost employee morale
Employees are always happier when they are well-fed. When an organisation offers employees such benefits like meal cards, it makes them feel looked after and happy. This leads to a thriving and positive workplace culture and atmosphere overall.
Can result in higher productivity and efficiency
Hunger makes people lethargic and unproductive. If the employees of an organisation are well-fed, they will naturally be more energetic, productive and as a result, more efficient which will lead to progress and better quality of work for the company.
Meal cards bring in profits for the company too
Meal cards are provided to employees due to partnerships with selected restaurants, cafes and meal voucher providers. The more meal cards the employer offers, the more profitable the program will be for the company. Another reason for this is that the office canteen sales will go up.
Meal card programs are extremely important and a great way to enhance employee happiness and morale. They can make your company stand out among other companies who do not offer such great employee benefits and can help take the company to new heights!
FAQs
Can the Pluxee card be used as soon as the customer receives it?
No, the card has to be activated before it can be used.
What is Pluxee’s 2-in-2 card?
It is a pre-loaded 2-in-one card that caters to not just food benefits but also other employee benefits.
Is the card validity the same for all the benefits?
Yes. The validity lasts for 3 years.
What benefits are users eligible for?
This is decided by the company’s HR. It differs from company to company.
How can users use the card?
A) Meal benefits: Swipe the card at Pluxee affiliated meal merchant outlets across India for the purchase of food and non-alcoholic beverages only.
B) Other benefits: Insert the card at RuPay accepting outlets to use your other benefits like fuel, telecommunication & data, rewards, etc.
Is there an app that can be linked to the card?
Yes. The Pluxee app can be used for this.
Can the card be used online?
Yes.
Is the card safeguarded by a pin?
Yes. The card is extremely secure and reliable. It can be used only on entering the valid pin.
What should one do if they lose their card?
On loss of the card, you can easily block your card using the Pluxee IN app in just a click. Open your Pluxee IN app, go to ‘Settings’, click on your Card and turn on the ‘Block temporarily’ button to prevent transactions on your card. You can also reach out to Pluxee customer service team. The lost card will be blocked, and the available amount would be issued to the cardholder in a replacement card only after the cardholder requests for a replacement card.
How can one opt for the Pluxee benefits suite for employees?
You can do this by signing up on the Pluxee website.
Is there a minimum employee requirement to be able to partner with Pluxee?
No, there is no minimum employee requirement to do this.
How is this beneficial to employees?
Pluxee benefits suite offers a host of benefits to your employees:
- 100% paperless management of spends and claims
- No need to carry multiple cards
- Employees can avail all their benefits like meal, reward, fuel, telecommunication, office wear and many more on just one card
- Tax savings over ₹1,00,000 a year, for every employee
- Additional savings of ₹8,000 through exclusive deals
- Greater freedom of choice to enjoy meal benefits with India’s largest meal network and other benefits over RuPay’s nationwide network
Where can these benefits be used?
Pluxee benefits suite is the most innovative employee benefit solution which helps you deliver all employee benefits on one card and app. This is India’s only card, that works on two networks for greater freedom of choice of your employees.
Pluxee’s proprietary meal network spread with 1,00,000+ unique points of acceptance across 1,800+ cities including popular food portals for employees’ to use their meal benefit
RuPay’s vast network spread across 50 lakh+ retail outlets and 90,000+ portals for employees to enjoy their non – meal benefits like fuel, telecommunication, office wear, books & periodicals & many more
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