Two catering organizations are moved on Monday by the possibility given to employees to pay for their food purchases thanks to meal vouchers, because these, they argue, must remain dedicated to financing the lunch break of employees.
"
In order to support the purchasing power of the French
people ", restaurant vouchers "
can be used by employees, to pay all or part of the price of any food product, whether or not it is directly consumable
" and this until December 31, 2023, indicates the Ministry of the Economy on its website.
"
Catering professionals refuse to see restaurant vouchers become food vouchers
", say in a joint press release the employers' union GNI (independent hotels and restaurants) and the SNRTC (National union for thematic and commercial catering).
Both wrote to the government "in
order to draw its attention to the risks
" of a measure deemed "
contrary to the purpose of the restaurant voucher
", which is to "
allow employees who do not have a canteen to company to have a real meal
” at noon, according to Didier Chenet, president of the GNI, quoted in the press release.
Read alsoThe restaurant voucher at 19 euros makes restaurateurs grumble
“
The lunch break would be threatened and the health of the employees with
it”, affirms for his part Hervé Dijols, president of the SNRTC.
The two organizations are afraid of seeing "
compromising the social and tax regime of the restaurant voucher by making it an ordinary means of payment
" and that this "
will seriously degrade the activity of local food shops
" frequented by employees at the time of their meal break, "
for the benefit of the distribution giants
".
Last year the GNI, which considers the commissions applied by the meal voucher issuing companies Edenred, Up, Natixis Intertitres and Sodexo to be too high, called on thousands of restaurateurs to come together to obtain compensation for the damage caused by the "
practices anti
-competitive actions " of these companies, sanctioned by the Competition Authority.
In December 2019, these four companies were sentenced to a total of 414 million euros in fines, for an "
agreement relating to the exchange of information
" and a "
locking
" of the restaurant voucher market - sanctions including these companies appealed.