This case centred on a dispute between an employer and their employee, a consultant in the banking sector. At the time of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, the employer unilaterally revoked meal vouchers for employees working from home. One of the employees tried to come to an amicable agreement internally, but to no avail.
The employer argued that employees were only entitled to meal vouchers for periods when they were actually in the office, a stance that the court ultimately rejected.
The aforementioned consultant decided to seek support from their trade union, the Luxembourg Association for All Employees with a Need for Assistance (ALEBA), which brought the case before the Luxembourg Labour Court. In a ruling issued at the end of February, the court dismissed the employer’s argument and upheld ALEBA’s position that meal vouchers constituted a non-negotiable component of employee remuneration, even during remote work periods.
Consequently, the Labour Court has ordered the employer to compensate the employee with €2,160, covering the withheld meal vouchers along with statutory interest.
In response to the verdict, ALEBA said it was “delighted with this ruling, which will benefit employees in all sectors throughout the country.”
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