Boss, I’m Hungry: Or, Eating at Work

Quick Overview

• An employer must provide employees with the opportunity to eat, but generally is not required to provide them with food or a meal allowance.
• After no more than 6 hours of continuous work, an employee must generally be given at least 30 minutes for a meal and rest; for minors, this must be provided no later than after 4.5 hours.
• The employer may specify where employees are permitted to eat at the workplace—for example, by prohibiting eating at a computer and designating a kitchenette for that purpose.
• Meal vouchers or a meal allowance are not an automatic legal entitlement. However, such an entitlement may arise, for example, from a collective bargaining agreement or internal regulations.
• In 2026, the maximum tax-exempt meal allowance per employee is 129.50 CZK per shift, provided the legal conditions are met.

Are you in a dispute with your employer over working conditions, breaks, or employee benefits? Describe your situation to us. A lawyer specializing in labor law will assess what you are actually entitled to and how to proceed with your employer.

Employer Obligations Regarding Meals

An employer’s legal obligations regarding employee meals are fairly clear. Primarily, employers are required to provide employees with a break for meals and rest lasting at least 30 minutes after no more than 6 hours of continuous work (or at least 15 minutes if the meal and rest break has been split into segments). In the case of a juvenile employee, this break must be provided no later than after 4.5 hours of work. Breaks provided do not count toward working hours.

At the same time, the Labor Code states that the employer is obligated to provide employees on all shifts with the opportunity to eat. This does not, however , mean an obligation to directly provide or finance meals, but only to allow employees to eat. Providing the opportunity to eat involves organizational arrangements—primarily setting aside the aforementioned meal and rest break of sufficient duration so that employees have a realistic opportunity to eat during the break, for example, at nearby restaurants or stores. If such an option is not available at more remote workplaces, the employer fulfills this obligation , for example , by providing and equipping a space where employees can heat up their meals and eat, or by allowing them to purchase snacks on the employer’s premises. An increasingly common way to provide lunch at work is to have food delivered by a courier.

Meal vouchers or a meal allowance: What’s the difference?

An employer can contribute to meal costs in several ways. In addition to a company cafeteria or a meal allowance, employers can provide employees with meal vouchers or a meal allowance. With meal vouchers, the employee receives a non-monetary benefit, most commonly in the form of an electronic meal voucher card. A meal allowance, on the other hand, is a monetary contribution paid to the employee.

From the employee’s perspective, starting in 2024, a combined limit applies to both monetary and non-monetary meal allowances for tax exemption purposes. In 2026, this limit is a maximum of 129.50 CZK per shift, provided the employee worked at least 3 hours during the shift and was not entitled to a meal allowance as part of travel expenses during that shift. For shifts longer than 11 hours, there may be room for an additional tax-exempt allowance if the statutory conditions are met.

Whether an employer chooses meal vouchers, a meal allowance, or another form of meal support is generally up to the employer. Therefore, an employee has no legal right to demand the specific option that suits them best.

What measures can an employer voluntarily take regarding meals?

So much for the obligations. Of course, the employer also has certain authorities in this regard— namely, the right to actually provide meals to employees, for example, in the form of a cafeteria and subsidized meals, a snack bar, or by reimbursing or contributing toward meal vouchers.

However, the employer also has the right, for various reasons (such as hygiene, safety, etc.), to require that certain activities—typically meals—take place only in a location designated by the employer. For example, in a kitchen with a dining area where food can be heated and also consumed on-site. At least some form of this—namely, the ability to heat and consume one’s own food—must be made available to all employees, including those who work, for example, at night or in rotating shifts.

In a collective bargaining agreement, the employer may commit to providing a specific form of meal service (i.e., not merely making it available), and employees may subsequently demand that this commitment be honored. Furthermore, the group of people eligible for benefits such as discounted meals may be expanded to include, for example, employees who worked there until they retired or received a disability pension for a third-degree disability, or to include other individuals.

Has your employer stopped providing you with meal vouchers or a meal allowance, even though these are provided for in the collective bargaining agreement or internal regulations? Let us assess whether you are actually entitled to this benefit and whether your employer was permitted to unilaterally change it.

What’s the deal with the ban on eating snacks at the computer?

But let’s return to the initial question. We asked Ms. Irena what exactly her employer’s ban on eating entails. We wanted to know if she is truly prohibited from eating in any form, even at a nearby restaurant, for example. But that wasn’t the case. The employer simply objected to employees eating at their computers, as this caused a number of problems.

Visitors and clients walked through the large open-plan offices, and according to the employer, “munching on a baguette didn’t look professional.” Furthermore, eating foods such as crumbly rolls and mayonnaise-based salads required more frequent cleaning. Therefore, the employer designated a room on the floor equipped with a small kitchenette and a microwave oven and ordered employees to eat only there. However, employees preferred the at least relative privacy of the open-space layout and protested the rule. We had to conclude, however, that the employer had fulfilled its legal obligations and, from a legal standpoint, could not be faulted.

More often, however, the opposite problem arises in the context of open-plan offices. Some employees are bothered by the aromas of others’ meals—some by the smell of roast meat, others by the scent of cooked cauliflower. As a result, employees themselves often request a separate dining area. As we outlined above, such a measure cannot be enforced by referring to standard provisions of labor law. These provisions primarily address occupational safety and health issues.

Therefore, it is more appropriate for colleagues to reach an individual agreement on considerate behavior. And if that doesn’t work, employees should appeal to the employer to take the necessary measures. Solutions may include better ventilation of the premises, dividing open-plan offices, or designating specific areas for eating. However, there is no legal entitlement to such measures.

Summary

Employers must allow employees to eat at work, but they are not automatically required to provide or pay for meals. Employees are generally entitled to a meal and rest break no later than after 6 hours of work, and the employer may also specify where employees are permitted to eat at the workplace. Meal vouchers or a meal allowance are considered voluntary employee benefits unless entitlement to them arises, for example, from a collective bargaining agreement or internal regulations. For 2026, provided the legal conditions are met, the tax-exempt limit for an employee’s meal allowance is 129.50 CZK per shift.