Restrictions related to the PAT (Worker’s Food Program) and portability rules were reinforced

Since the end of 2021, PAT beneficiary companies are prohibited from demanding or receiving any type of discount when negotiating contracts with companies that supply meal and food cards, and from negotiating the receipt of funds and direct or indirect benefits that are not directly linked to the promotion of health and food safety of employees, under penalty of fines and loss of tax incentive by beneficiary companies.

Clarifying the limits applicable to funds and direct or indirect benefits related to employee food safety, Decree No. 11,678 (“Decree”) determined that invoices or slips cannot be paid by companies that supply meal and food cards, including through reward and similar programs.

The Decree also prohibited the institution, by companies that supply meal and food cards, of reward programs involving “cashback”, that is, programs in which the consumer receives back part of the amount when purchasing a product or contracting a service after full payment to the company supplier or service provider.

The Decree also brought rules on the portability of amounts credited to employees’ payment accounts, among them that portability must be requested by the employee to an account owned by him/her that has the same nature and refers to the same product, and the transfer must be free and cover the account balance and all amounts.