What is an Employee Meal?
An employee meal is a meal or drink that an employer provides to the employee while they are working in office hours. Employee meals are offered in restaurants, cafes, hotels, catering businesses, and other food service operations. Instead of paying full price for their food, employees may be entitled to a free meal or a discounted meal as part of their perks.
Some common employee meals are for-- Servers
- Kitchen help
- Bartenders
- Cashiers
- Managers
- Delivery drivers
Restaurants typically have a company policy of how, when, and what employees can eat their meals.
How Do Employee Meals Work in Restaurants?
Most employees' meals are managed on the restaurant's POS system as well as internal employee staff policies.
Here's how the process typically works-- An employee is entitled to a meal during their shift or break time.
- An employee orders an appropriate meal.
- The POS system should have an "employee meal" or "staff meal" transaction type to identify it.
- The restaurant assigns the appropriate discount, comp, and meal allowance.
- The managers can view or approve these transactions for reporting purposes.