The Infralegal Labor Framework changed the rules of the Worker's Meal Program - PAT, which regulates meal vouchers and food vouchers. The old rules had been made 20 years ago and met the needs of a time different from today, a time when, for example, vouchers were paid on paper and there were no electronic transactions.
The new regulation (Decree 10.854/21 and Ordinance 672/21) came to modernize this scenario, changed the old rules and should allow the entry of new participants in a market where there were not many participants. See the main new features:
- The benefit may be offered through facilitators for the acquisition of meals or foodstuffs. The facilitators can be accreditors or issuers.
- The payment arrangement used by the facilitators to make it possible to offer the benefits may be open or closed.
- The payment instrument does not need to be exclusive for the food or meal benefit.
- It is not compulsory to have a physical payment instrument, i.e. it is not compulsory to give a physical card to the worker.
- The accreditation procedure for restaurants and supermarkets has become less bureaucratic.
- The values of the benefits can only be used for food and meals, being prohibited the withdrawal and use for any other purpose, such as other benefits.
- The closed arrangements should enable interoperability with open arrangements within 18 months. In practice, the closed arrangements that operate in the market today should allow new arrangements to carry out payment transactions for food and meal benefits.
- Rebate or discount is prohibited, i.e. the payment of incentives by facilitators to beneficiary companies is prohibited, except in the case of contracts already entered into. Some incentives may still be granted, provided that they are directly linked to the promotion of workers' health or food safety.
- Portability of the benefit is provided for. Which should allow the worker to choose the facilitator who will deliver the benefit to him."
- There is no obligation to hire a nutritionist, as technical responsible for the execution of PAT, by the companies that facilitate the acquisition of meals or foodstuffs.
