Employer Reimbursement in California: Mileage, Cell Phones and Home Office

What does California Labor Code 2802 make an employer pay for?

Section 2802 requires an employer to indemnify you for all necessary expenditures or losses you incur in direct consequence of doing your job, or of following the employer's directions. Two ideas do the work: the cost must be caused by the job, and it must be necessary and reasonable.

• Driving. Miles driven in your own car between job sites, to clients or on errands for the employer.
• Phones and data. Work calls, texts and apps on a personal phone the job requires you to use.
• Tools and equipment. Items the employer requires that you buy for the job.
• Uniforms. If the employer requires a uniform, the Labor Commissioner says the employer must pay for it, and uniform includes clothing and accessories of distinctive design and color.
• Travel. Required business travel costs, subject to reasonable limits.

The protection cannot be signed away. Section 2804 makes any agreement to waive these rights null and void, so a handbook clause saying employees cover their own phone bills does not end the question.

How much mileage reimbursement does California require in 2026?

California law requires full reimbursement of the actual, reasonable cost of driving for work, not a particular per-mile figure. The IRS standard business mileage rate is a common yardstick, but no statute makes it the required measure.

As of October 2026, the IRS has raised its rate mid-year, effective July 1, so a claim covering all of 2026 uses two rates. An employer may use another method, such as tracking actual costs or paying a car allowance, as long as the amount fully covers the expense. If an allowance falls short, the difference is still owed.

Example (hypothetical): a home health aide drove 600 work miles a month in her own car from April through September 2026 and received nothing. At the IRS rates, that is 1,800 miles at 72.5 cents ($1,305) plus 1,800 miles at 76 cents ($1,368), a total of $2,673 before interest.

Does a California employer have to pay for your personal cell phone?

If your job requires you to use a personal cell phone for work, section 2802 requires the employer to reimburse a reasonable share of the cost. A 2014 California Court of Appeal decision, Cochran v. Schwan's Home Service, held that this applies even if you have an unlimited plan and your bill did not go up.

The court did not set a percentage. What counts as reasonable depends on how much of your phone use is for work. Common approaches are a monthly stipend or a share of the bill matched to work use, and either one can be measured against your actual records.

Are work-from-home costs reimbursable in California?

They can be. No separate statute lists home-office costs, so the same section 2802 test applies: was the expense necessary and caused by the job? Internet service, a share of a phone plan, a monitor or a printer can qualify when the employer requires you to work from home and the cost is reasonable.

The facts carry the weight. A worker who chose remote work when an office was available may stand on different footing from one whose office closed. A list of what you bought, why the job needed it and what the employer told you about remote work is the starting point.

Checklist: records that support a reimbursement claim

• A mileage log with dates, start and end points, purpose and miles, or route records from a mapping app.
• Phone bills with work use marked, and any instruction to use your own phone.
• Receipts for tools, uniforms, equipment and travel.
• The employer's reimbursement policy and any expense reports you submitted.
• Emails or texts approving, denying or ignoring your requests.
• Pay stubs showing what, if anything, was reimbursed.

Deductions are a related issue. The Labor Commissioner says an employer generally cannot take money from your pay for breakage or loss caused by a simple mistake or accident. If deductions were made, include them; the guide to unpaid wages demand letters covers that side.

How to ask your employer for reimbursement in writing

1. Total each category separately: mileage, phone, equipment, other.
2. Show the method for each, such as miles times the IRS rate in effect on the date driven.
3. Cite Labor Code section 2802 and note that awards carry interest from the date you paid each expense.
4. Attach the log and receipts, or offer them, and keep originals.
5. Ask for payment of a specific total by a specific date, plus a going-forward reimbursement arrangement.
6. Send it to payroll or human resources in a way you can prove.

What happens if the employer ignores a reimbursement demand?

The next step can be a wage claim filed with the Labor Commissioner, whose office allows three years for unpaid reimbursement claims. The Labor Commissioner may also issue a citation for the amount owed, and amounts recovered that way go to the employee (section 2802(d)).

In court, necessary expenditures include reasonable costs and attorney's fees incurred enforcing section 2802, and awards carry interest at the judgment rate from the date you paid the expense. Smaller claims can go to small claims court, up to $12,500 for individuals; the filing steps are in the small claims demand letter guide.

Retaliating against a worker for asserting Labor Code rights is unlawful in California. If your hours or assignments change after you ask, the guide to workplace retaliation letters explains your options.

When an attorney-written reimbursement letter makes sense

Expense claims grow quietly, a few dollars of mileage and phone use at a time. A single month of driving with a clean log may need no more than a short note. The harder cases are costs that span years, a car allowance the employer insists is enough, contested home-office costs, or a group of coworkers carrying the same expenses. Each category then needs its own legal footing in the letter.

Send your mileage logs, phone bills and receipts to Talk to My Lawyer, and a licensed California attorney writes your letter from those documents and your facts and sends it on your behalf. Whether each expense was truly required by the job is a question a lawyer can answer from those same records.