Expansion for the food voucher presented before the National Assembly
The Minister of Labor and Labor Development, Doris Zapata, presented on Wednesday, August 5, virtually before the National Assembly, a bill that seeks to modify Law 59 of August 7, 2003, which authorizes the food program for employees. The objective of the initiative is to expand the scope of the food voucher.
The project proposals include an increase in the maximum amount to be delivered as a food voucher, its proportion in relation to the worker's salary and the possibility of acquiring medical services and paying for tuition expenses.
With this law we make available to workers a mechanism that allows the possibility of exchanging the voucher for private medical services recognized by the Ministry of Health; and help the development of the educational process by expanding its benefit for the payment of tuition to all levels, from early childhood to technical and university education duly registered, said the Minister of Labor.
The food voucher is a payment system that seeks to boost sales and consumption of services in stores. The voucher is available to employees of public institutions and companies. Until now, it can be used exclusively for the purchase of food in supermarkets, mini-supermarkets and hypermarkets in the country.
In the proposal – agreed at the tripartite dialogue table for the economy and job development – those products which are related to clinics, hospitals, medicine and school supplies are added to the list of products and services that can be exchanged through the food voucher, with clarification that the food voucher does not constitute part of the salary, said Zapata.
She explained that the food program directly impacts 160,000 workers who currently do not pay income taxes, that is, workers who earn up to $916 in monthly wages.
With this law we make available to workers a mechanism that allows the possibility of exchanging the voucher for private medical services recognized by the Ministry of Health; and help the development of the educational process by expanding its benefit for the payment of tuition to all levels, from early childhood to technical and university education duly registered, said the Minister of Labor.
The food voucher is a payment system that seeks to boost sales and consumption of services in stores. The voucher is available to employees of public institutions and companies. Until now, it can be used exclusively for the purchase of food in supermarkets, mini-supermarkets and hypermarkets in the country.
In the proposal – agreed at the tripartite dialogue table for the economy and job development – those products which are related to clinics, hospitals, medicine and school supplies are added to the list of products and services that can be exchanged through the food voucher, with clarification that the food voucher does not constitute part of the salary, said Zapata.
She explained that the food program directly impacts 160,000 workers who currently do not pay income taxes, that is, workers who earn up to $916 in monthly wages.