High inflation rate causes meal allowance amounts to rise once again starting 1 June 2023

On 20.05.2023 the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic published Measure No. 171/2023 Z .z. on the amounts of meal allowances with effect from 1 June 2023.

The amounts of business travel allowances will increase as follows:

• EUR 7.30 for a time duration of 5 to 12 hours,
• EUR 10.90 for a time duration that is longer than 12 hours capped at 18 hours,
• EUR 16.40 for a time duration that is longer than 18 hours.

The increase in meal allowance amounts will also have an impact on the statutory staff meal allowance, which is provided for by the Labour Code.

Overview of staff meal allowances starting 1 June 2023

Meal voucher

According to the Labour Code, the minimum value of a meal voucher is 75% of the meal allowance for work trips lasting between 5 and 12 hours, i.e. €5.48 with the new changes. It remains the case that an employer may decide to provide a meal voucher of a higher value than that provided for in the Labour Code.

More information on the taxation of employee meal allowances can be found here.

We recommend that the above changes be incorporated into the company's internal guideline governing the conditions for providing meals to employees. Our experts will be happy to help you with the drafting of the internal guidelines.