Lunch Card: a flexible and most wanted employee benefit in 2023. Sylwia Bilska, General Manager Edenred Polska.

Edenred, a global technology platform that works to change local habits, is also a leader on the employee benefits market. Sylwia Bilska, the managing director at Edenred Polska, tells us about the solutions that are the key for success.

For twenty years, Edenred has been providing Polish companies with ideas for employee benefits. Your most recent solution, the Lunch Card, seems to be a gamechanger. Why?

Our Lunch Cards are desired by employers and employees alike. We have a long history of close cooperation with businesses from all around the world, which gives us a good understanding of expectations of companies and their employees. Our insights help us develop unique solutions, such as the Lunch Card. This concept quickly gained popularity because it is practical and easy to introduce; after all, every employee needs a meal during his/her workday. The employer can distribute the Lunch Cards among its employees, who in turn can use it to pay for meals with the program partners: in restaurants, stores, and when ordering home-delivered food. With the Lunch Card, the employers no longer need to account for paper vouchers at the end of each month.

Does the Lunch Card bring benefits to everyone involved?

Yes, absolutely. The Lunch Card significantly improves employee satisfaction, and it is a well-known fact that happy employees are more productive! Also, free lunches at work reduce the strain on the family budget. Our research showed that 92 percent of respondents consider subsidized meals as an important factor in employer selection. In short, employers who offer food perks are rated highly or very highly. Our Lunch Cards can also help businesses save money; they allow the businessowners to increase the amount of food subsidies per employee up to PLN 300 monthly, which is the amount exempted from social insurance premiums under the Polish law. To give you a practical example: if a company hires 1000 employees, and each of them receives an additional PLN 300 on their Lunch Card, the business will save over PLN 700 thousand in tax deductions annually.

How does this perk apply to remote or hybrid work?

As a result of the pandemic, many employees started to fully or partially work from home. Our Lunch Card may be used by remote and office employees alike. Let me underline that the Lunch Card is often an important incentive for the employees to return to the office. This benefit also helps to rebuild social bonds and integrate teams at lunchtime.

Do Lunch Cards improve the employer’s brand?

The structure of the labor market is changing rapidly. There is fierce competition, and HR departments are fighting to attract qualified workforce. Perks and benefits make employers more attractive in the eyes of potential employees. Our Lunch Card is an opportunity for businesses to present themselves as innovative companies that are close their people. This is a way for a company to show that it cares not only about its employees’ health and everyday well-being, but also about their household budgets in times of skyrocketing inflation.

What is the current situation in Poland?

In Q1 and Q2 2022, the number of Lunch Card users in Poland increased by 60 percent. This is an amazing result. Companies also receive support from the project For Good Movement by Edenred, which we co-create together with the employers. The purpose of the initiative is to popularize healthy lunch breaks. Each week we provide materials prepared by experts on nutrition to support people in making conscious decisions about their eating habits. Sign up to our For Good Movement at forgoodmovement@edenred.com

Sylwia Bilska, General Manager w Edenred Polska

Dynamic business leader with a proven track record in technology, eCommerce and Payments.

For over 15 years, she has been commercializing digital and digitizing businesses
in developed and developing markets.

Currently she is the General Manager and Member of the Management Board of Edenred,
a global leader in technological solutions for employee motivation and involvement, as well as fostering business loyalty and increasing sales on the B2B2C market.

She gained professional experience in marketing, sales and strategy departments, working at the C-level for companies including Tesco Central Europe, PayU Poland and Central Europe, Avon, Philip Morris, and Oriflame.

Member of supervisory boards of technology and FinTech companies, and of the management board of the Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications. She has been a mentor for women and start-ups for nearly a decade now.

In 2016 she was awarded the Digital Champion Award by the Forum of Digital Business Leaders, and a year later she received the title of Charismatic Leader from the WhyStory magazine. Distinguished by the title Strong Woman in IT 2021.

Lawyer by education, she also graduated from the European Executive MBA.

Last Updated on October 18, 2022 by Anastazja Lach