The "Meal Allowance" feature enables restaurants to manage employee dining benefits through configurable allowance plans. You can create customized allowance plans, assign them to specific employee groups, define spending limits, restrict eligible menu items, and allow employees to redeem their balance at the POS or through the restaurant's website. 

The system supports two main allowance models:

• Fixed Budget Allowance: Each employee receives a recurring dining balance (for example, $50/week).
• Per-Meal Discounts: A fixed discount is applied to eligible staff meals on each transaction.

In this article, you'll learn how to set up and configure staff meal allowance for your restaurant.

Enable Meal Allowance

To activate the Meal Allowance feature across  your restaurant locations, follow the steps below: 

1. Log in to the Merchant Portal. 
2. On the left panel, click on CRMMeal AllowanceGlobal Settings.
3. Under "General Settings," toggle on Enable Staff Meal Allowance . 
4. To allow staff members to redeem their meal allowance through online ordering, toggle on Support Online Redemption .
5. Under "Enabled Shops," toggle on  the restaurants where staff meal allowances can be used. 
   Note: Only restaurants with the required license can be activated.
6. Under "Allowance Settings," enter the discount name that will appear on receipts and reports.
7. Click on Save to confirm.

Create Employee Segments

"Employee Segment" allows you to categorize employees and assign meal allowance plans based on their roles, departments, or other organizational criteria.

To create an employee segment, follow the steps below: 

1. Log in to the Merchant Portal. 
2. On the left panel, click on CRMSegments.
3. Click on +Add Employee Segment.
   
   
4. Enter the segment name that you want to assign to the group. Example: Kitchen Staff, Front-of-House, Wait Staff, Managers, etc.
   
   
5. Next to the staff member that you want to include in the segment, click on the checkboxto add them to the group.
   Note: If you haven't added staff members to your loyalty program, you may skip this step and assign segments later on.
   
   
6. Click on Save Segment to confirm.

Configure Allowance Plan

An "Allowance Plan" lets you define the budget limits, discount rates, and item restrictions for a meal allowance. You can configure the meal allowance plan to grant fixed budget allowances for each employee, or set up a per-meal discount allowance that's applied to specific items.

To set up an allowance plan, follow the steps below: 

1. Log in to the Merchant Portal. 
2. On the left panel, click on CRMMeal AllowanceAllowance Plan.
3. At the top right, click on +Add Allowance Plan.
   
   
4. Enter the plan's name and description per language.
   
   
5. Configure the allowance plan to your preferred settings. 
6. Click on Save to confirm. 

You can configure the following settings: 

Create staff accounts

Staff members must be added to your restaurant's loyalty program to enjoy meal allowance benefits. 

To create staff accounts, follow the steps below:

Individually create new member accounts

1. Log in to the Merchant Portal. 
2. On the left panel, click on CRMCustomer List.
3. At the top right, click on +Add Customer.
4. Enter the staff member's information. 
   Note: "First Name," "Last Name," "Phone number," and "Gender" are required information.
5. Next to "Segment," click on Edit . Then, assign the staff to their respective employee segment.
   Note: You may also assign the staff to an employee segment from the Segment settings.
   
   
6. Click on Save to confirm.

Bulk import new member accounts

To create member accounts in bulk, follow the steps below: 

1. Log in to the Merchant Portal. 
2. On the left panel, click on CRMImport Customer.
3. At the top right, click on Import Customer List.
4. On the "Import Customer List" screen, you’ll find the steps to import. Follow the on-screen instructions.
5. Click on Submit to confirm.
6. On the left panel, click on CRMSegments. Then, assign staff members to their respective employee segments.