They are reopening the debate about restaurant cards with a new benefits system

The project includes a system of canteen services inside or outside the company, excluded from the salary base and subject to strict restrictions

12/11/2025 – 8:12 p.m

The project of Labor reform The government-backed initiative has reopened an old debate: Can it? Restaurant cards in a new format? Although the initiative does not explicitly propose the return of these vouchers, it does provide for a regulation Social benefits.

The text submitted by the government to the Senate proposes in Article 31 that employers can make offers Dining and catering services during the working day, both within the company and through agreements with surrounding catering establishments. It is usually made clear that these benefits are “non-monetary, non-cumulative or exchangeable for money”. prevent them from becoming a hidden part of the salary.

Labor reform: the debate is reopened in favor of restaurant cards

The labor reform is primarily about social benefits such as “Statutory social security benefits that are not paid, non-monetary, non-cumulative or replaceable by money and which the employer voluntarily grants to the employee directly or through third partieswith the aim of improving the quality of life of the worker and/or his dependent family group; Therefore, these benefits are not benefits in kind.

And later he clarifies: “The following benefits are considered social benefits: a) the Company canteen and cateringwithin the employer’s branch or in nearby restaurants during the working day set by the employer in accordance with the limits established by the executive authority. This is where the restaurant menu debate comes into play.

This new framework is part of the redefinition of the so-called social benefits, a concept developed within the project through Article 103 bis. It stipulates that services such as: Canteen, doctor’s reimbursement, child day care, provision of work clothes or school materials are excluded from the salary base and therefore do not pay employer contributions or contributions. Its stated function is to improve the quality of life of the employee and his family group without changing the compensation structure.

The history of basket tickets and the new version proposed by labor reform

The Argentine experience with Restaurant cards – and with that Basket tickets– served as a reference for the specialists involved in its creation. The aim was to avoid a repeat of the system that for years allowed part of the salary to be paid out with non-remunerative vouchers, leading to savings for companies and damaging the pension system.

At the end of the 80s and in the 90s, these vouchers spread rapidly: in the context of hyperinflation and loss of purchasing power, many companies saw them as a mechanism to reduce tax and pension burdens. But the expansion caused controversy. The unions denounced precarity and a lack of funding, while the control organizations warned of massive evasive maneuvers.

The situation changed when the Supreme Court intervened and found that the tickets constituted direct remuneration linked to the work and should therefore be included in the salary. The final blow came in 2007, when Law 26,341 abolished the regime following the scandal surrounding an attempted bribery to maintain the regime. From then on, vouchers were banned as a free form of payment.

The current project takes part of this story to differentiate itself: the spirit is not to return to the voucher model, but to establish a regulated system with limits and government oversight. The enforcement authority will be responsible for establishing the limits of the benefit and the conditions for its implementation, providing for control mechanisms to prevent its accumulation, abuse or conversion into money.

Ultimately it is Labor reform opens the door to a new version of the Benefits of Foodmore limited and with a regulatory framework that, according to its authors, aims to leave the abuses of the past behind. It now remains to be seen how an issue that has historically combined workers’ needs, business strategies and strong political tensions will be debated in Congress.