Entitlement to meal vouchers also for those working a long shift of more than six hours

Anyone in the health sector who works more than six hours is entitled to a meal, regardless of whether they are a shift worker or not. When it is not possible to use the canteen service due to continuous care, the worker must be compensated with a replacement meal voucher. This was reaffirmed by the labour section of the Supreme Court in Order 25525/2025 published on 17 September.

They won their appeal against the Messina provincial health authority the 14 professional shift nurses who had acted against the company to be granted the right to either the canteen service or the meal replacement voucher. The request was made in spite of the fact that the regulations restricted the right only to non-shift staff with afternoon shifts.

The Court of legitimacy, however, confirmed what the Court of Appeal had ruled, reforming the first instance ruling. According to the court of merit, in application of the 2001 health care collective labour agreement and Article 8 of Decree Law 66/2003, if working hours exceed six hours, there is a right to a meal. When, due to continuity of care, access to the canteen is not possible, the right simply changes form to be guaranteed by a replacement meal voucher. The Supreme Court, in fact, reiterates that in the privatised civil service the possibility of receiving a meal voucher is subordinate only to that of enjoying a lunch break. If it is true that those who work more than six hours are entitled to a break, then the court of merit - says the Supreme Court - correctly linked the right to a canteen (or meal voucher in lieu) to the possibility of taking a break. The Court goes on to add that the legislation provides for a break for the consumption of a meal when working hours exceed six hours, without further differentiation between shift workers and non-shift workers.