California Labor Law Reimbursable Expenses, 2802
California Labor law requires that employees be reimbursed for their work related expenses, such as mileage, supplies, training, tools
and equipment and even legal expenses. Alternatively, employers usually have policies and procedures that create deadlines, in order to request and receive reimbursement.
In Stuart v. RadioShack, an employee is suing for reimbursement and RadioShack argues that his claim has no merit because Stuart did not make a proper request under its policies and procedures. So the question is: Do the requirements of the statute override policies and procedures for reimbursement set by the employer?
California Labor Code section 2802 states:
“An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties.”
“Any contract or agreement, express or implied, made by any employee to waive the benefits of this article or any part thereof, is null and void.”
California employers are required to reimburse employee expenses and employers cannot allow the employees to surrender or limit these rights for any reason. According to the Northern District Court: the employer’s responsibility to reimburse expenses should be triggered by the same standard that applies in cases of “off-the-clock” work:
“The Court concludes that a fair interpretation of [Labor Code] §§ 2802 and 2804 which produces “practical and workable results,” consistent with the public policy underlying those sections, focuses not on whether an employee makes a request for reimbursement but rather on whether the employer either knows or has reason to know that the employee has incurred a reimbursable expense. If it does, it must exercise due diligence to ensure that each employee is reimbursed.”
Basically, employers can continue to use their policies and procedures but if they learn about reimbursable expenses that are owed to the employee, the employer should make every effort to reimburse the employee.
If you are concerned that you are owed reimbursable expenses please contact a California labor law attorney to help you claim the money that is owed to you.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Rawpixel.com