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I found this even more brilliant: "Vilnius authorities have also given the city’s public health workers €400,000-worth (£350,000) of restaurant vouchers intende

by jd115 6y ago

I found this even more brilliant: "Vilnius authorities have also given the city’s public health workers €400,000-worth (£350,000) of restaurant vouchers intended both as gesture of thanks for their work and a much-needed stimulus to the city’s cafes." London should do more of this. Every city should do more of this.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
smcl 6y ago
Do those lunch/meal vouchers exist at all in the UK? Many workers here in Czech Republic get them as a work benefit, and I suspect this is what they're referring to. It varies per employer but we get roughly one ticket per working day, worth 110kč ($4.40, or €4) and they're valid in pretty much every restaurant in the city so basically everyone goes out for lunch. When I was in the UK they didn't have anything like this.
- baud147258 6y ago
  We have them in France too, but half is payed by the employee (taken from the salary). But we can also use them when buying groceries (not all supermarkets accept them, but a lot of them do)
  - smcl 6y ago
    Yep same deal as us, a mix of employer/employee contributions pay for them, they can be used for some items in supermarket (not for things like alcohol) and I think the employer contribution is tax exempt too
    - neltnerb 6y ago
      I have never heard of this before. It is fascinating to me that health care gets decoupled from employment but eating is considered an employment benefit. I don't really object or anything, it just seems out of character. Wouldn't it be better if the government did this directly by the same logic you'd apply to health care? Making employee meals tax deductible instead of just giving everyone a government funded food benefit sounds much more like what I'd expect in the US.
      - smcl 6y ago
        It's an interesting comparison, but I don't really think it's in the same ballpark as healthcare being provided by your employer. It's cheap (less than $90/month for mine) and it's optional - nobody's dying or going bankrupt because they don't have stravenky. It's better to think of it like the free coffee, fruit, breakfast and snacks you might have in your office. I'm sure someone's made an argument that they'd rather get a few extra bucks each month than have free coffee in the office, but not many :-) "Making employee meals tax deductible" sounds like I have to keep receipts of what I ate and file them with my taxes to receive the benefit. But it's just that some amount of the value of these vouchers is subtracted from the subtotal used to calculate my income tax. It's a small thing, but honestly it's a really nice benefit
        neltnerb 6y ago
        Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like you'd deduct it from personal taxes. In the US, health insurance paid by your employer is automatically deducted from your taxes so it is analogous. The small amount almost makes it stranger, why not just give the benefit to everyone? Food seems like it would be a basic necessity comparable to healthcare, especially when you're talking about such a small amount, and it boosts the local economy just as much if it's coming from an employed person as an unemployed person. Edit: But yes, I see your point about it being intended to be analogous to "snacks in the office" or whatever. It just seems very strange that it would be in widespread use but tied to your employer. It does sound nice. I just don't understand why it's employer run if it's a cultural expectation.
        smcl 6y ago
        You make a good point though, in an ideal world[0] the next step might be the government stepping up to provide something like this to everyone. Remember that what the government is "paying" here (or rather waiving) is the tax on that, not the entire amount (so I dunno, $9 instead of $90). The government here isn't spectacularly wealthy though so I don't know if they'd be able to fund the full amount without raising taxes, which would be a tough sell. [0] = my idea of an ideal world is very subjective so might not match up with everyone else's!
  - jxub 6y ago
    In Spain it's a extra on top of the salary but buying groceries with them is verbotten. You can use them to buy drinks at bars though. Missing the time when I could eat at restaurants guilt-free almost every day at lunchtime.
- icebraining 6y ago
  Seem the UK had them quite early, but abolished them a few years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal_voucher#United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal_voucher#United_Kingdom
  - smcl 6y ago
    First I've heard of it. I doubt many companies took advantage of the scheme and issued them and I guess very few restaurants would've accepted them anyway.
    - twic 6y ago
      As a kid in the '80s or '90s, i remember seeing signs on restaurant windows or in menus saying they accepted Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Luncheon Vouchers. I never actually saw a Luncheon Voucher though.

by jd115 6y ago

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

smcl 6y ago

Do those lunch/meal vouchers exist at all in the UK? Many workers here in Czech Republic get them as a work benefit, and I suspect this is what they're referring to. It varies per employer but we get roughly one ticket per working day, worth 110kč ($4.40, or €4) and they're valid in pretty much every restaurant in the city so basically everyone goes out for lunch. When I was in the UK they didn't have anything like this.

baud147258 6y ago
We have them in France too, but half is payed by the employee (taken from the salary). But we can also use them when buying groceries (not all supermarkets accept them, but a lot of them do)
- smcl 6y ago
  Yep same deal as us, a mix of employer/employee contributions pay for them, they can be used for some items in supermarket (not for things like alcohol) and I think the employer contribution is tax exempt too
  - neltnerb 6y ago
    I have never heard of this before. It is fascinating to me that health care gets decoupled from employment but eating is considered an employment benefit. I don't really object or anything, it just seems out of character. Wouldn't it be better if the government did this directly by the same logic you'd apply to health care? Making employee meals tax deductible instead of just giving everyone a government funded food benefit sounds much more like what I'd expect in the US.
    - smcl 6y ago
      It's an interesting comparison, but I don't really think it's in the same ballpark as healthcare being provided by your employer. It's cheap (less than $90/month for mine) and it's optional - nobody's dying or going bankrupt because they don't have stravenky. It's better to think of it like the free coffee, fruit, breakfast and snacks you might have in your office. I'm sure someone's made an argument that they'd rather get a few extra bucks each month than have free coffee in the office, but not many :-) "Making employee meals tax deductible" sounds like I have to keep receipts of what I ate and file them with my taxes to receive the benefit. But it's just that some amount of the value of these vouchers is subtracted from the subtotal used to calculate my income tax. It's a small thing, but honestly it's a really nice benefit
      - neltnerb 6y ago
        Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like you'd deduct it from personal taxes. In the US, health insurance paid by your employer is automatically deducted from your taxes so it is analogous. The small amount almost makes it stranger, why not just give the benefit to everyone? Food seems like it would be a basic necessity comparable to healthcare, especially when you're talking about such a small amount, and it boosts the local economy just as much if it's coming from an employed person as an unemployed person. Edit: But yes, I see your point about it being intended to be analogous to "snacks in the office" or whatever. It just seems very strange that it would be in widespread use but tied to your employer. It does sound nice. I just don't understand why it's employer run if it's a cultural expectation.
        smcl 6y ago
        You make a good point though, in an ideal world[0] the next step might be the government stepping up to provide something like this to everyone. Remember that what the government is "paying" here (or rather waiving) is the tax on that, not the entire amount (so I dunno, $9 instead of $90). The government here isn't spectacularly wealthy though so I don't know if they'd be able to fund the full amount without raising taxes, which would be a tough sell. [0] = my idea of an ideal world is very subjective so might not match up with everyone else's!
- jxub 6y ago
  In Spain it's a extra on top of the salary but buying groceries with them is verbotten. You can use them to buy drinks at bars though. Missing the time when I could eat at restaurants guilt-free almost every day at lunchtime.
icebraining 6y ago
Seem the UK had them quite early, but abolished them a few years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal_voucher#United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal_voucher#United_Kingdom
- smcl 6y ago
  First I've heard of it. I doubt many companies took advantage of the scheme and issued them and I guess very few restaurants would've accepted them anyway.
  - twic 6y ago
    As a kid in the '80s or '90s, i remember seeing signs on restaurant windows or in menus saying they accepted Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Luncheon Vouchers. I never actually saw a Luncheon Voucher though.