Quick answer:
WorkPals is a MealPal feature that helps coworkers connect around lunch. You can see what coworkers are ordering, volunteer to pick up a meal for someone else, or ask a coworker to bring your meal back for you. WorkPals can also help match coworkers based on their preferences, creating an easy way for people across different teams and departments to get to know each other. Participation is completely optional, and members can opt out at any time.
What is WorkPals?
WorkPals is a social feature within MealPal designed to make lunch a little more connected.
Instead of everyone independently ordering and picking up lunch, WorkPals lets coworkers see what other people at their company are ordering and help one another with pickup.
With WorkPals, you can:
- See what coworkers are ordering for lunch
- Volunteer to bring back a coworker’s meal
- Ask a coworker to bring your meal back
- Get matched with coworkers based on preferences
- Meet people you might not normally interact with during your workday
The idea is simple: lunch is something people already do every day, so it can also become an easy opportunity to build relationships at work.
How does WorkPals work?
When WorkPals is enabled, MealPal can help connect you with coworkers who are also using MealPal.
For example, you might notice that someone else from your company has ordered from a restaurant near the one you are visiting.
You can volunteer to bring their meal back with you.
Or, if a coworker is already heading out to pick up lunch, you may be able to ask them to bring your meal back too.
WorkPals can also automatically match coworkers based on preferences, helping introduce people who may not already know one another.
Can I see what my coworkers are ordering?
Yes.
One of the features of WorkPals is the ability to see what participating coworkers are ordering through MealPal.
That can make lunch more social without requiring everyone to coordinate a group order.
You might discover that someone on another team orders from the same restaurants you do, or realize that several coworkers are heading toward the same part of the neighborhood for lunch.
It creates opportunities for interaction around something that was already happening anyway.
Can I pick up a MealPal meal for a coworker?
Yes.
WorkPals lets you volunteer to bring a coworker’s meal back when you are already going out to pick up lunch.
That means one person can make the trip while helping someone else who may be busy, stuck in a meeting, or simply unable to step away.
It is a small favor, but those small interactions can help create a more connected workplace.
Can I ask a coworker to pick up my meal?
Yes.
WorkPals also works the other way.
If a coworker is heading out for lunch, you can request that they bring your MealPal meal back for you.
The goal is not to turn anyone into the office lunch runner. Participation is voluntary.
Instead, WorkPals creates an easy way for coworkers to help each other when it is convenient.
How can WorkPals help build workplace community?
A lot of workplace community happens through small, informal interactions rather than scheduled company events.
Lunch is naturally one of those moments.
But in a large office, employees can easily spend most of their time interacting only with the people on their immediate team.
WorkPals can help create connections across those boundaries.
An employee in marketing might bring back lunch for someone in engineering.
Someone in finance might discover that a coworker in sales orders from the same restaurant every week.
Two employees who have never worked together might get matched through WorkPals and meet because of lunch.
None of these interactions needs to be a formal networking event.
They are simply small opportunities for coworkers to know more people around the company.
Does WorkPals automatically match coworkers?
Yes.
WorkPals can automatically match coworkers based on preferences.
That means employees do not necessarily need to already know one another before interacting through the feature.
This can be especially useful at larger companies, where employees may recognize coworkers around the office but have few natural reasons to meet people outside their department.
WorkPals creates one.
Is WorkPals only available for corporate MealPal accounts?
No.
WorkPals is available to both corporate MealPal accounts and regular MealPal accounts.
For companies using MealPal as an employee lunch benefit, WorkPals can be an additional way to build community around the lunch program.
But employees do not need to be part of a corporate MealPal plan to use WorkPals.
Is WorkPals required?
No. WorkPals is completely optional.
Not everyone wants lunch to be social every day, and employees should be able to use MealPal in the way that works best for them.
Members who do not want to participate in WorkPals can opt out.
You can still use MealPal to find, reserve, and pick up your own meals without participating in the social features.
Does someone have to bring back a coworker’s meal?
No.
Helping with another employee's pickup is voluntary.
WorkPals gives coworkers the opportunity to help one another when it is convenient; it does not create an obligation to pick up anyone else's lunch.
Why is WorkPals useful for companies?
Companies often look for ways to create stronger connections between employees, particularly across teams and departments.
Those efforts can easily become formal: networking events, team-building activities, happy hours, or scheduled social programs.
WorkPals takes a different approach.
It adds community to something employees are already doing: eating lunch.
That can help companies:
- Encourage interaction across teams and departments
- Create small opportunities for employees to help one another
- Make lunch feel more communal without requiring a group order
- Help employees meet coworkers they may not otherwise encounter
- Add a social dimension to an existing lunch benefit
And because participation is optional, employees who prefer to keep their lunch routine individual can do that too.
Is WorkPals useful for hybrid workplaces?
It can be particularly useful on days when employees are together in the office.
One of the challenges of hybrid work is that coworkers may have fewer spontaneous interactions than they once did.
When employees are in the office, WorkPals gives them another reason to interact — without requiring the company to schedule anything.
A coworker bringing someone else's lunch back may seem like a very small interaction.
But workplace relationships are often built through exactly those kinds of small moments.
Do employees need to eat lunch together to use WorkPals?
No.
WorkPals is not a group-lunch program.
Employees can still choose different restaurants, eat at different times, and follow their own lunch routines.
The feature simply creates opportunities for coworkers to connect when their lunch plans overlap.
That makes WorkPals much less structured than organizing a company-wide lunch or requiring everyone to eat together.
Is WorkPals a replacement for team-building activities?
No — and it does not need to be.
WorkPals is designed for something smaller and more frequent.
A company retreat or team event may happen a few times a year.
Lunch happens every workday.
WorkPals uses those ordinary moments to create more opportunities for coworkers to meet, interact, and help one another.
The bottom line
WorkPals makes MealPal about more than getting lunch.
It lets coworkers see what one another are ordering, volunteer to bring meals back, request help with pickup, and connect with coworkers they might not otherwise meet.
For companies, that can turn an everyday lunch benefit into a lightweight way to encourage connections across teams and departments.
For employees, there is no forced networking and no obligation to participate.
WorkPals is completely optional — but for people who choose to use it, lunch can become an easy way to know a few more people at work.
