Whether or not an employer has to reimburse you for your expenses depends on whether or not they were spent in the slope of your employment. These expenses do not only include those that are paid in order to adequately meet the demands of an assignment, or your employment as a whole. You do not have to spend money on a work-specific item; if you utilize your own resources to complete your duties, such as cell phone minutes, this qualifies as a work expense. You have to show that these losses were reasonable, however.
The requirement to reimburse is not affected by your status as an exempt employee. If an employer does not reimburse an exempt employee, this may be deemed a minimum wage violation, or affect whether or not the employee is still classified as exempt.
1- Driving expenses
The ways in which an employer can reimburse you for driving include: actual expenses incurred, mileage reimbursement, and lump-sum payments. Lump-sum payments are fixed amounts, and must be adequate to cover actual expenses. Improper or inadequate reimbursement may constitute a minimum wage violation.
2- Cell phone usage
Reimbursement for cell phone use is calculated as a reasonable percentage of your monthly bill. Determining this amount depends on multiple factors, including how often the phone was used in performance of work-related duties.
3- Remote employees
If all or some of your duties are required to be carried out remotely, your employer may have to reimburse you for expenses incurred in performing these tasks. An employer is not required, however, to reimburse you for these expenses if you chose to work from home.
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