California: Employee Expense Reimbursement Requirements

Requirements one by one

Necessary costs tied to duties or directions are covered

Labor Code § 2802(a) requires indemnification for “all necessary expenditures
or losses” incurred in direct consequence of the employee's duties or obedience
to the employer's directions.

The express exception concerns an unlawful direction the employee believed was
unlawful when obeying it. The section does not separately list an advance-
approval test or category-specific rates for mileage, phones, travel, tools,
uniforms, or remote-work costs.

The statute states no claim-form deadline

Sections 2802 and 2804 state no number of days for submitting a request and no
required receipt, itemization, certification, or substitute for missing proof.
They also state no fixed preapproval procedure or reimbursement cap.

Labor Code § 2804 supplies the policy boundary: an express or implied agreement
waiving any benefit of the article “is null and void.”

Interest starts when the cost is incurred

Labor Code § 2802(b) states no fixed payment deadline or payroll-versus-separate-
payment method. It requires a court or DLSE reimbursement award to carry
interest at the civil-judgment rate from the date of the expense or loss.

Enforcement costs and a citation route are available

Labor Code § 2802(c) includes reasonable enforcement costs, including attorney's
fees. Labor Code § 2802(d) authorizes a Labor Commissioner citation for the
reimbursement amount due.

The cited sections state no fixed per-day reimbursement penalty or a
reimbursement-specific limitations period.

What trips people up

Section 2802 does not create a statutory IRS mileage rate or a single percentage
for phone and internet use. Its text instead asks whether the employee incurred
a necessary expenditure or loss in direct consequence of duties or employer
directions.

Reimbursement also differs from a deduction from earned wages; the two rules
answer different questions.

Common questions

Does California set a 30-day request deadline?

Not in §§ 2802 or 2804. Those sections state no employee submission period or
required claim form.

Must the employer use the IRS mileage rate?

Section 2802 states no mileage rate. It supplies a necessary-expenditure and
direct-consequence standard rather than a category-specific dollar schedule.

When does interest begin?

For a court or DLSE reimbursement award, interest accrues from the date the
employee incurred the necessary expenditure or loss.

Statutes and sources

• Cal. Lab. Code § 2802. Indemnity standard, unlawful-direction exception,
  award interest, enforcement costs and attorney's fees, and Labor Commissioner
  citation authority. Official text
  (accessed July 14, 2026).
• Cal. Lab. Code § 2804. Agreements waiving article benefits are void.
  Official text
  (accessed July 14, 2026).