Kentucky: Employee Expense Reimbursement Requirements
The short answer
Kentucky has no general private-sector statute requiring reimbursement of every necessary work expense. KRS 336.220 instead creates a narrow employer-paid-cost rule: an employer may not require an employee or applicant to pay for a medical examination or records the employer requires as a condition of employment. A violation carries a civil penalty of $100 to $1,000, but the cited provisions state no general expense claim process or repayment deadline.
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This is the general rule in Kentucky. Ezel applies current Kentucky law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and coverage | No general business-expense mandate in current KRS Chapters 336-337. KRS 336.220 narrowly covers broadly defined employers, employees, and applicants for employer-required medical examinations or records |
|---|---|
| Reimbursable expense standard | No statewide necessary, reasonable, scope-of-employment, or direct-consequence standard. Section 336.220 only prevents shifting the cost of a medical examination or employer-required records |
| Authorization, direction, and primary benefit | No general direction, authorization, ratification, preapproval, or primary-benefit test. The narrow rule applies when the employer requires the examination or records as a condition of employment |
| Excluded losses and employee fault | No general statutory list for negligence, ordinary risk, theft, wear, commuting, personal costs, or other employee fault. Section 336.220 does not state an employee-fault exception |
| Request deadline and documentation | No general expense-request deadline, receipt/proof rule, itemization, certification, or missing-document substitute. Section 336.220 states no employee submission procedure |
| Employer policy, preapproval, and caps | No general expense-policy, preapproval, specification, or cap framework. An employer policy cannot require the employee or applicant to bear a cost prohibited by § 336.220 |
| Payment deadline, method, and interest | No general reimbursement deadline, payroll/separate-payment method, advance, stipend, mileage rate, or interest rule. Section 336.220 bars imposing the covered cost but states no repayment clock |
| Enforcement and remedies | KRS 336.990(2)(c) sets a civil penalty of $100-$1,000 for each § 336.220 violation. The cited provisions state no expense-specific private action, repayment award, attorney's fees, interest, or limitations period |
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Requirements one by one
Kentucky does not create a general expense claim
The current official labor and wage chapters identify no statute requiring
ordinary private employers to reimburse every necessary or reasonable business
expense. They therefore supply no universal mileage rate, phone or home-office
percentage, receipt rule, request deadline, policy-cap framework, payment clock,
interest rule, or general expense remedy.
Kentucky does separately protect employees and applicants from one narrow set
of employer-required costs.
The employer must bear required medical-exam and record costs
KRS 336.220 makes it unlawful for an employer to require an employee or job
applicant to pay for a medical examination or for furnishing records the
employer requires as a condition of employment. The employer definition covers
individuals and multiple forms of business entity, legal representatives and
fiduciaries, and common carriers operating in Kentucky.
The section does not state a general work-connection or primary-benefit test.
It also does not extend its list to ordinary mileage, travel, phones, home
offices, tools, uniforms, supplies, fingerprinting, or drug testing.
No request form or repayment clock is stated
Section 336.220 prevents the employer from requiring the employee or applicant
to bear the covered cost. It does not prescribe a claim deadline, receipt,
itemization, certification, missing-document substitute, payment method, or
interest rule.
The statute's condition-of-employment language supplies the required employer
connection for its two listed categories. It is not a general preapproval or
expense-policy rule for other costs.
The express remedy is a civil penalty
KRS 336.990(2)(c) sets a civil penalty of at least $100 and at most $1,000 for
each violation of § 336.220. The cited provisions do not state an additional
employee repayment award, private civil action, attorney-fee rule, interest
rate, or limitations period for the covered cost.
What trips people up
Section 336.220 is a cost-shifting prohibition, not a statewide expense-report
system. Its rule is tied to a medical examination or records required as a
condition of employment. It does not create a reimbursement formula for every
cost that helps the employer.
Workers' compensation examination and travel rules, public-employee travel
schedules, wage deductions, and federal minimum-wage rules are separate from
the ordinary private-sector question compared here.
Common questions
Must a Kentucky employer reimburse ordinary business mileage?
No general mileage right or rate appears in the current Chapters 336-337
provisions reviewed for this topic. Tax rules, public travel schedules, and
workers' compensation mileage are outside this survey.
Can an employer make an applicant pay for a required medical exam?
No. KRS 336.220 expressly makes it unlawful to require an employee or applicant
to pay that cost.
Does the same section expressly cover a drug test or fingerprinting?
No. Its listed categories are a medical examination and records required by the
employer as a condition of employment. The section does not expressly list drug
testing or fingerprinting.
What penalty applies?
KRS 336.990(2)(c) provides a civil penalty from $100 to $1,000 for each
violation of § 336.220.
Statutes and sources
- KRS Chapters 336-337. Current official labor and wage chapters reviewed
for a general employee-expense scheme. Chapter 336
and Chapter 337
(accessed July 14, 2026). - KRS 336.220. Covered employers and the prohibition on shifting required
medical-examination and record costs. Official text
(accessed July 14, 2026). - KRS 336.990(2)(c). Civil penalty for each violation. Official text
(accessed July 14, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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