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Thank you for your suggestions! I think everyone is right, asking for money wouldn't be the right move. I'll mention my dietary restrictions and see where that takes us. I'll mention a salad/health food place that can work for me and whole foods and cross my fingers he will just give me a gift card to whole foods.
I am not happy where I work but it is 10 min walk from my house and I have been there 5 years so I feel it is job security. I do have a side hustle and hopefully in 6 months or so I will be able to do that full time and can leave this job, or work there part time.
I met someone who got a free iPhone (and this was back around 2010, when they were still relatively new) from his workplace, but he was envious of his friends where _their_ companies gave them actual, cash bonuses. Alas, there wasn't much he could do about that in that situation either.
[quote=macroy;64421442]Perhaps he's just trying to do something nice and didn't really look at it as "compensation"? You can apply this to any gift you got ("why couldn't they have just given me the money?"). Or, if he did give you the money, would there be a tax liability? Would it count as income? As you said - there is also the potential hidden agenda that he's hoping most will just work through that lunch. Agree or not, it really doesn't matter as you can't control that outside of finding a new job. [/q]Cash is king and most flexible. Chances are, if the amount is low enough, it wouldn't make a dent in your tax brackets. If it does (IANA tax person), I'd imagine that you'd need to report non-cash gifts with monetary values as well?
It may seem tacky, but if the gift isn't really that usable (as with the OP's case), then it's value will be less (regardless of the monetary value). Me, I wouldn't really want to have free McDonald's every day. I used to work at a place that gave free soft drinks and snacks, and that took a toll on our healths in the long run.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macroy
If he didn't offer to pay for your lunch - how would you handle lunch? Bring? Go elsewhere? Starve? Since you're getting money for lunch, couldn't the money you "saved" go to your bills then? If nothing else, get something that you can save for later to eat?
My suggestion is that if you are truly concerned about the choice of food. That may be an easier avenue to change. Find a place that you rather eat at, and then ask if you can use that place instead due to dietary restrictions.
If he is just all out stingy or is not a good employer, then that's a whole different issue and not really relevant to this concern, IMO.
Bringing your own lunch is typically cheaper. Not to mention it'll be exactly what you want.
I would also just bring my lunch and work through the busy season like everyone else is doing.
FWIW, you can usually find ways to order somewhat healthy/low carb foods from most restaurants. Ex: order a grilled chicken sandwich bunless and substitute the fries for a side salad, fruit or vegetable.
As others have said, it would be wrong, wrong, wrong, to ask for money instead. Period.
*Number one, he probably didn't pay $20 each for these but did some kind of a quantity deal.
*Number two, it would probably be a lie to tell him you can't eat anything on the menu, because you have said the places are good, which means they aren't only McDonalds, etc. If there isn't a salad on SOMEONE's menu, I'll be amazed. You have probably been gorging on all the goodies without paying attention to your own dietary needs. Grow up and do like any smart person at a buffet does, take what you need and don't try to eat everything in sight.
OP didn't say how big the team is, but there have to be other people with dietary restrictions in the office--someone might keep Kosher, someone might be vegetarian/vegan, etc. If everyone else is getting their lunch comped, it's not fair for the OP to have to bring his own every day, so the better option might be to ask around the office to see if anyone else is having similar issues, and going to the boss as a group to say hey, it's so nice that you're buying us lunch, but we need other options.
To the OP, now IF you was to get cash instead I sincerely hope you would be paying taxes on this new additional income.
Nah. If other people don't have to pay taxes on the free lunch, or OP doesn't get a tax break for the expense for the lunch they have to pay for that other people don't, then why would someone have to pay taxes for something that would be essentially a reimbursement for an expense on a perk other people didn't have to pay taxes on? (Yes, that sentence makes sense, lol.)
Nah. If other people don't have to pay taxes on the free lunch, or OP doesn't get a tax break for the expense for the lunch they have to pay for that other people don't, then why would someone have to pay taxes for something that would be essentially a reimbursement for an expense on a perk other people didn't have to pay taxes on? (Yes, that sentence makes sense, lol.)
Some people do have to pay tax on foods received. I knew a person who worked in a canteen at a hospital, they were given so much $$ allowance to get their meals everyday, & it was included as income, on the W2.
OP didn't say how big the team is, but there have to be other people with dietary restrictions in the office--someone might keep Kosher, someone might be vegetarian/vegan, etc. If everyone else is getting their lunch comped, it's not fair for the OP to have to bring his own every day, so the better option might be to ask around the office to see if anyone else is having similar issues, and going to the boss as a group to say hey, it's so nice that you're buying us lunch, but we need other options.
People with dietary restrictions know how to order their food. I've been eating low carb for a long time and I can always find something that I can have.
If in doubt, call the restaurant, yourself, and ask what low carb, low calorie, low salt, etc food options they have. The restaurant is in the business of accommodating their customers' dietary needs. The average office boss knows little to nothing about that sort of thing.
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