Is It Fair to Deduct Canteen Charges from Salaries When Employees Bring Their Own Lunch?

Dear All, I am working in the manufacturing sector in Karnataka, where we have a canteen facility in our factory. Currently, some employees are bringing their lunch boxes. Is it compulsory to deduct the amount from the salary even if the employee is not having food in the canteen? Also, is it mandatory for the canteen committee members to have food in the canteen?

Regards

It is up to the management to decide whether to provide food and deduct it from the salary or not. The more important thing is that if you provide good food, they will be inclined to have it.

You can deduct the cost from the salary of the employees who have consumed food from the canteen, but not from those who bring their lunch boxes.

Canteen Committee Responsibilities

It is not compulsory for the canteen committee members to have food in the canteen. However, they should check the quality of food served from the canteen regularly. This checking is only possible by eating the food. It is necessary to establish a policy that requires some members of the canteen committee to eat at the canteen every day to check the food quality.

Canteen Lunch Policy and Deductions

It is not compulsory for every employee to have lunch in the canteen. It is not legal to charge workers who are not availing of the lunch facility. You can charge for those who are casually absent (those who eat sometimes but not all times) because the food needs to be made for them, but you cannot force anyone to eat your canteen food or force them to pay (by way of a deduction).

In fact, it would probably make more sense then to consider the deduction for the canteen as part of CTC but not as part of the salary, meaning it is a welfare payment and not asking for a contribution from the workers. But that is an internal management decision and probably connected with the agreement you have with your canteen contractor.

Canteen Committee Members' Participation

There is no rule to say that canteen committee members have to eat in the canteen. But it is a matter of internal management. If they are not eating in the canteen, then it is possible they are not really interested or concerned about the canteen and therefore they should not be in the committee. But there is nothing in the law to support or prevent this; therefore, it is an internal decision.