For 2024, there is a change in the foreign meal allowance rate for selected countries. This article gives an overview of the new rates and explains the conditions for foreign meal allowances.
New foreign meal allowance rates for 2024
On 24 November 2023, Decree No. 341/2023 Coll. was published in the Collection of Laws, Part 158, on fixing the basic rates of foreign boarding fees for 2024. The basic rates of foreign meal allowances set by the Ministry of Finance pursuant to Section 189(4) of the Labour Code are set out in the Annex to this Decree. The Decree can be found under via this link.
Decree No. 341/2023 Coll. Decree No.401/2022 Coll., on setting the basic rates of foreign meal allowances for 2023, is repealed.
The following countries will see a change in the foreign meal allowance rate compared to 2023:
Conditions for granting foreign meal allowances
Provision of refunds when travelling abroad for work is regulated by Section 170 of the Labour Code. An employee who is sent on a foreign business trip is entitled to a foreign currency meal allowance.
Amount of foreign meal allowance
The employee is entitled to foreign meals at the basic rate, if the time spent outside the Czech Republic within a calendar day, more than 18 hours.
If the time spent outside the Czech Republic lasts more than 12 hours and not more than 18 hours on a calendar day, the employer shall provide the foreign employee with a meal allowance of two-thirds of the foreign meal allowance rate.
One third of the foreign meal allowance rate provided by the employer to the employee if the period of time spent by the employee outside the territory of the Czech Republic 12 hours or less, but at least 1 hour or
longer than 5 hours, provided that the employee is entitled to a meal allowance for the journey within the Czech Republic pursuant to Section 163 or Section 176 of the Labour Code.
When are employees not entitled to foreign meal allowances?
If the period of time spent by the employee on a foreign business trip outside the Czech Republic less than 1 hour, Foreign boarding with employees will not provide.
An employee shall not be entitled to foreign meal allowances during a foreign business trip while visiting a family member or during an agreed interruption of a foreign business trip for reasons attributable to the employee.
Counting the time spent abroad on a business trip
The periods of 1 hour or more spent by an employee on foreign business trips outside the Czech Republic within one calendar day are added together for the purposes of the foreign meal allowance. The periods for which the employee is not entitled to the foreign meal allowance shall be added to the period of time relevant for the granting of the meal allowance pursuant to Section 163 of the Labour Code.
Reduced foreign boarding fees
If the employee is on a business trip abroad free food provided, the staff member is entitled to foreign meal allowances less the value of
- 70 % of foreign meal allowance, if it is a foreign meal allowance at one-third of the basic rate
- 35 % of the foreign meal allowance, if the foreign meal allowance is two-thirds of the basic rate
- 25 % of the foreign meal allowance if the foreign meal allowance is at the basic rate.
TIP: For more information on foreign meal allowances and travel allowances when travelling abroad, see Manual for the Personnel Agenda and Remuneration of Employees, which is published on the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
AVENSIO SW programme
You enter the meal allowance into AVENSIO SW using the user payroll code with the set system code 683 - MEALS PER DAY (H). You can set the code via the program menu Main menu - Dialers - Payroll table via the button Create new code.
The subsistence allowance is paid to Payroll items (Employee card - Employment relations) in hours.
