Expense Reimbursement: The Wage Violation Hiding in Plain Sight

California Labor Code § 2802 requires employers to reimburse employees for all necessary business expenses. Workers who use their personal vehicles, cell phones, or home internet for work — without reimbursement — have a claim for those unreimbursed costs.

What Must Be Reimbursed

Required reimbursements include: mileage for business driving (at the IRS rate or actual costs), a portion of cell phone bills when used for work calls or data, a portion of home internet when working remotely, tools or equipment required by the employer but not provided, and any other out-of-pocket expense that the employer required and benefited from.

Remote workers have three years of potential reimbursement claims. Workers who were required to work from home beginning in 2020 without reimbursement for internet and equipment have claims going back three years from their filing date. For a worker who paid $100/month for a home internet plan used primarily for work, that’s $3,600 in unreimbursed expenses — before interest and penalties.

The California Wage Theft Recovery System gives workers the exact tools and templates to document violations, calculate what they’re owed, and file the right claims — without paying an attorney to get started. Request your free evaluation here.