The food subsidy is one of the best-known supports for workers in Portugal, but it continues to raise doubts because it is not always an automatic right. The law distinguishes between what is mandatory because it is provided for in the contract or collective bargaining and what is just a practice followed by many companies.
In the private sector, food subsidy is not mandatory for all workers only by law.
The employee can only demand it when this payment is provided for in the employment contract, in a collective regulation instrument applicable to the sector or company, or in another internal rule that binds the employer, in accordance with .
Law does not treat it as a universal right
Unlike the Christmas bonus and the holiday bonus, which are expressly provided for in the Labor Code (CT), the food subsidy does not appear as a general mandatory benefit for all workers in the private sector.
The CLT, in its articles 258 and 260, defines remuneration as the benefit due to the employee under the contract, applicable standards or usage, but treats meal allowance as a benefit that, as a rule, is not part of remuneration, except in specific situations.
This means that a private company is not obliged to pay food subsidies if there is no basis that obliges it to do so. This basis may be, for example, in the individual employment contract, a collective agreement, a company agreement or other applicable collective regulation.
In Public Administration there is a fixed value
In Public Administration, the value of the meal allowance was updated to R$6.15 per day, effective from January 1, 2026. This update is contained in Ordinance No. 51-B/2026/1, of January 30, which revoked the previous Ordinance No. 107-A/2023, where the value was set at R$6.00.
This value of the public service often ends up serving as a reference for the private sector, but does not transform the subsidy into a universal obligation for all companies. In the private sector, the essential thing remains to check the contract and the applicable collective agreement.
How much is exempt from IR and INSS?
This year, the amount exempt from IR corresponds to the legal limit of meal allowance. Thus, up to R$6.15 per day, when paid in cash, there is no taxation. When payment is made via meal card or meal voucher, the exemption goes up to R$10.46 per day, by applying the 70% increase provided for in the Income Tax Code.
Above these amounts, only the excess is subject to tax. The same logic is followed for the purposes of Social Security contributions, since the Contributory Regimes Code refers the treatment of meal subsidies to the terms set out in the IRS Code.
And who is teleworking?
Teleworking does not, in itself, remove the right to food assistance. The CLT, in article 169, establishes that teleworking employees have the same rights and duties as other employees of the company with the same category or identical function, including the right to receive, at least, remuneration equivalent to that which they would have in person.
Therefore, if the company pays food assistance to on-site workers in a comparable situation, it should not stop paying it just because the worker is teleworking.
Part-time contracts
In part-time contracts, the law also provides for its own rule. According to article 154 of the CT, part-time workers are entitled to meal allowances under the terms defined by collective regulations or, if more favorable, by what is practiced in the company.
When the normal daily working period is less than five hours, the amount can be calculated in proportion to the normal weekly working period. This rule does not mean that all part-time workers are automatically entitled to the benefit. It means that when the subsidy is due, the law determines how it should be treated in these situations.
Confirmations to be made by the worker
The first step is to consult the employment contract and see if there is a collective agreement applicable to the activity, company or function. It is there that you will normally find the answer about the existence of the subsidy, the daily amount, the method of payment and the situations in which it is due.
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