California Labor Code Section 2802 requires your employer to reimburse you for every necessary expense you incur doing your job. That covers mileage, a portion of your personal cell phone bill, home internet used for work, tools, uniforms, and travel costs. The obligation cannot be waived by contract, interest runs from the day you spent the money, and if you have to sue to collect, the employer pays your attorney’s fees.
What the Statute Actually Requires
The rule is broad on purpose. An employer must repay an employee for all necessary costs incurred as a direct result of doing the job or following the employer’s instructions.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 2802 The duty applies even when those instructions turn out to be unlawful, unless you knew at the time they were illegal. Pre-approval by a company policy is not required. If the cost was necessary for the work, the employer owes it.
A companion provision, Section 2804, makes this right essentially unwaivable. Any contract or agreement that tries to give up or limit reimbursement rights is void.2California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 2804 A waiver tucked into an offer letter, handbook acknowledgment, or arbitration clause will not hold up. The right follows every California employee regardless of what they signed.
Which Expenses Qualify
The test is whether the expense was necessary for you to do your job. That standard has been applied across a wide range of costs.
Mileage and Vehicle Use
Personal vehicle use for work travel is one of the most common reimbursable expenses. Many employers use the IRS standard mileage rate, which for 2026 is 72.5 cents per mile.3Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents The IRS calculates that number from an annual study of fixed and variable costs including fuel, insurance, maintenance, and depreciation.4Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Standard Mileage Rates Using the IRS rate is convenient but not required. What matters is that whatever method the employer uses actually covers your real costs. In Gattuso v. Harte-Hanks Shoppers, the California Supreme Court confirmed that employers can satisfy the obligation through enhanced base pay, higher commissions, or lump-sum payments, provided the amounts fully cover actual expenses and the reimbursement portion is clearly identifiable.5Justia Law. Gattuso v. Harte-Hanks Shoppers, Inc.
Cell Phones and Home Internet
If your employer requires you to use a personal cell phone for work, reimbursement is mandatory. In Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service, the California Court of Appeal held that even employees on unlimited plans are owed a reasonable percentage of their bill.6Justia Law. Cochran v. Schwans Home Service Unlimited does not mean free. The same principle applies to home internet used for work, which matters especially for remote and hybrid employees. You and your employer need to agree on a reasonable split between work and personal use.
Tools, Equipment, and Supplies
If your job requires specific tools, uniforms, safety gear, or office equipment and the employer does not provide them, the cost is theirs. For remote workers, that can extend to a desk, headset, printer, or basic office supplies needed to do the work from home.
Business Travel
Lodging and meals during required work travel are covered as necessary business expenses. Employers often benchmark travel reimbursements against the General Services Administration’s per diem rates, which set location-specific daily allowances for lodging and meals across the continental United States.7General Services Administration. Per Diem Rates Section 2802 does not mandate GSA rates, but they provide a widely accepted reference for what counts as reasonable.
Documenting What You Spent
Solid records separate a quick reimbursement from a drawn-out dispute. Keep receipts, invoices, and any confirmation emails showing what you spent, when, and why. For mileage, keep a log with the date, destination, business purpose, and distance for each trip. The IRS rate is useful because it converts a simple trip log into a dollar amount without your having to save every gas receipt.
Mixed-use expenses like a cell phone or home internet need a reasonable allocation between work and personal use. Estimate the percentage of time or data you use for work each month and apply that to your bill. You do not need minute-by-minute accuracy, but you should be able to explain your method if challenged. Submit expenses through whatever process your employer has set up. If there is no formal process, put the request in writing anyway. A paper trail protects you if the claim goes to the Labor Commissioner.
How Long You Have to File
A Section 2802 claim rests on a statutory obligation, so the three-year statute of limitations for statutory liability applies under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 338.8California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 338 The clock starts on the date each individual expense was incurred, not the last day of employment. If you have been absorbing unreimbursed costs for years, the older expenses may already be time-barred while more recent ones are still recoverable. Miss the deadline and the money is gone.
How to Recover Unreimbursed Expenses
When an employer refuses to reimburse a properly documented expense, you have three main enforcement paths.
Wage Claim With the Labor Commissioner
The most accessible option is filing a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, also called the Labor Commissioner’s Office.9Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. How to File a Wage Claim You file online, the DLSE investigates, and if it concludes the employer owes money, it issues an order against the employer. You do not need a lawyer, which makes this route practical for smaller claims that would not justify litigation.
Civil Lawsuit
You can skip the administrative process and file a civil lawsuit instead. That makes more sense when the amounts are significant or when the employer has failed to reimburse multiple employees. A court action opens up broader discovery and can lead to larger recoveries.
Labor Commissioner Citations
Section 2802 also lets the Labor Commissioner issue citations directly against employers who violate the reimbursement duty.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 2802 Amounts recovered go to the affected workers, not the state.
What You Can Recover
Winning under Section 2802 gets you more than just the expense amount. Interest accrues on every unreimbursed expense from the date you actually spent the money, not from the date of any award or judgment.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 2802 The rate matches the rate on civil judgments, generally ten percent per year.10California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 685-010 – Rate of Interest on Money Judgment On a claim that has been building for a couple of years, that adds up fast.
The statute’s definition of “necessary expenditures or losses” also expressly includes reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred to enforce the section.1California Legislative Information. California Labor Code LAB 2802 That fee-shifting is what makes claims viable even when the unreimbursed amount itself is modest. An employment attorney can take the case knowing the employer pays the legal bill if you win.
Why the Stakes Have Gotten Higher
Before 2018, employees who absorbed unreimbursed work costs could at least partially offset the loss with a miscellaneous itemized deduction on their federal return. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated that deduction, and subsequent legislation made the suspension permanent.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 67 – 2-Percent Floor on Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions A narrow group of workers, such as educators with qualified classroom expenses, still have a version of it. For everyone else, Section 2802 is the only real protection against absorbing business costs out of pocket. If your employer is not reimbursing you, you are paying with after-tax dollars and recovering nothing at tax time.
A Note on Federal Law
Federal law provides only a narrow floor. Under the so-called kickback rule, employers must pay wages “free and clear,” meaning an employee cannot be required to absorb business expenses that effectively push their pay below the federal minimum wage or cut into required overtime.12eCFR. 29 CFR 531.35 – Payment in Cash or Its Equivalent For anyone earning well above minimum wage, this rule rarely helps. California’s Section 2802 is far broader because it covers all necessary expenses regardless of pay level.