What about lunch in France ? Generally, it is longer than twenty minutes, the minimum required. Often, it is more than one hour ! What is called the “ticket resto” are the base of this french lunch tradition.
“Where do we eat today ?” it’s a phrase you can hear from 11h30 am, in the french company’s offices. It’s a question your colleagues ask each other. The employees have their lunch, oftenly, outside of their working place. Small restaurants, “brasseries”, fast-food … 80% of french people enjoy eating together. This “ticket resto” makes it easier…
What is a “ticket resto” ?
The company where the salary is employed gives those restaurant voucher. You got those tickets because your company doesn’t offer you an inside restaurant. They give you the possibility to buy in restaurants, bakeries, fast-food and even supermarkets ! The tickets can represent a maximum amount of 11,38 euros per ticket and starts from 7,50 euros. The amount differs according to the company.
If one of those four images is posted on the door of the restaurant, it means you can pay for your meal with it (and most of the places take them) !
The lunch break is a real breath in the day, in France. For 60% of the salaries in the country, it is a cultural habit that seems unique in the world. Only 22% of the britains population takes a lunch break over 30 minutes.
The “ticket resto”, how does it work ?
The tickets are paid by the company (50% to 60% of the total value) and by the employee. The amount that pays the employee is directly taken from the month salary.
For example : on a 9,20 ticket, the employee pays 3,68 euros (40%) ; the company pays the rest : 5,52 euros (60%). You get generally one ticket per working day in the month. It can be 20 tickets, for instance.Then, in total, the employee pays 73,60 euros and the company pays 110,40 euros.
In 2021, the pandemic of COVID changed the Labor Code. The employees now have the right to eat on the desk. Does this change erase the habits ? The lonely lunch, in front of a screen, in 15 minutes : will it appear in the french offices ? It will be surprising in this country where lunch break is a big part of culture !
To go further…
To know everything about an employee’s lunch break : What are the rules ? How can we get and use those tickets ?
Video
Célia explains us in this video how the lunch break is a traditional french social time :
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