(a) An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying … . © 2020 Law Offices of Corbett H. Williams, All Rights Reserved. ABM Industries, a janitorial service provider, recently agreed to a $5.4 million dollar proposed settlement in Marley Castro, et al. App. Cal. reimbursement for easily overlooked expenses, including cell phone expenses, home office expenses, car allowances, and mileage reimbursements that are lower than the IRS rate. The penalties over the period of non-payment, plus the attorney’s fees can be substantially greater than the expenses. She not only represents her clients with a strength of conviction, but she also is very empathetic to her clients’ feelings. Cochran illustrates the trend of California courts in broadly applying Labor Code section 2802. 4th 1137 (2014), employee Colin Cochran filed a putative class action lawsuit on behalf of customer service managers who were not reimbursed for expenses relating to the work-related use of their personal cell phones. CA Labor Code § 2802 (2017) (a) An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the … California Labor Code Sec. Labor Code Section 2802 … California law requires your employer to reimburse you for all “necessary” expenses you incur because of your job. To see the importance of the ruling in Cochran, consider an employee who purchases a smart phone or a computer or pays monthly fees for a minute plan, a data plan, or home internet access. Thus, the only issue is whether the employee was required to use their personal cell phone for work, and whether he or she was reimbursed. For example, employers requiring … “We hold that when employees must use their personal cell phones for work-related calls, Labor Code section 2802 requires the employer to reimburse them. Under Cochran, an employer cannot defend a 2802 action related to use of a cell phone on the basis that the employee would have bought a cell phone even if she was not required to use it for work. Recently, a California court of appeal applied Section 2802 to work-related cell phone use. Cochran held that “when employees must use their personal cell phones for work-related calls, Labor Code section 2802 requires the employer to reimburse them.” The Court refers to a provision of the California Labor Code requiring employers to reimburse employees for “all necessary expenditures or … Employees must have cell phones with data plans, home internet access and a laptop or similar device in order to meet these demands. While the law is unclear and risk remains, it may be acceptable to reimburse home-bound employees only for a reasonable percentage of their home internet expenses, not the entire bill. Although the Cochrancourt only considered phone calls made on personal cell phones, employer’s increasing reliance on smart phone’s sophisticated data-consuming capabilities, such as mandating the use of employer applications, are also covered under Labor Code section 2802. v. ABM Industries, Inc., a class action involving a California class of over 3,000 cleaning employees who claim that they were not reimbursed under Labor Code section 2802 for the expense of required … Contact us today at 949-679-9909 or use the contact form at the bottom of this page, and we will respond promptly. This means that if your employer requires you to have a cell phone or smart phone for work purposes, your employer MUST reimburse you for the costs of providing the phone. Through social entre­pre­neurship, we’re lowering the cost of legal services and increasing citizen access. California Labor Code section 2802 obligates employers to reimburse employees for “all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, …” The Cochran decision posed, and answered, the “threshold question” presented on appeal as follows: Under the California labor code, section 2802, all business use of a personal cell phone must be reimbursed. It does not matter whether the bill is paid for by the employee, a third person, or at all. The State of California has led the way in defining what employers are required to do when asking officers to bring their personal phones to work. He also has substantial experience representing business clients in consumer class action, trade secret, real estate, intellectual property and contract matters and has obtained multiple published opinions by the California Court District of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit. Under Section 2802, you are not only entitled to reimbursement of all “necessary” expenses you have incurred in performing your job, you are also entitled to recover the fees an attorney may charge to recover those expenses from your employer in a lawsuit. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require employers to reimburse employees for cell phone use, but California law does require cell phone reimbursement per the California Labor Code Section 2802. An employer who fails to reimburse an employee for work expenses can be sued in court for reimbursement and may be required to pay the employee’s attorneys’ fees. California’s Labor Code Section 2802(a) states that: An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying the directions, believed them to be unlawful. However, there is a stipulation with the FLSA which says an employee’s earnings can’t be below … Read this complete California Code, Labor Code - LAB § 2802 on Westlaw FindLaw Codes are provided courtesy of Thomson Reuters Westlaw, the industry-leading online legal research system . Strict time limits may apply to your claim, so you shouldn’t wait. § 2802 (a) ... We will always provide free access to the current law. One way to avoid the Labor Code section 2802 quandary is to issue company cell phones to employees, while at the same time prohibiting the use of personal phones. Reimbursement of employee cell phone expenses is governed by California Labor Code Section 2802, which provides: An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or … As with most employment-related violations in California, the penalties for failure to comply with section 2802 can be severe. Just this week the California Court of Appeal held that “when employees must use their personal cell phones for work-related calls, Labor Code section 2802 requires the employer to reimburse them.” California Labor Code section 2802 provides employees reimbursement from their employer for all … In Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service, 228 Cal. In law school, attorneys-to-be are ... customer service managers who were not reimbursed for expenses pertaining to the work-related use of their personal cell phones. California law protects employees who use their own money or equipment at work. It does not matter whether the bill is paid for by the employee, a third person, or at all. California Law on Reimbursement of Employee Cell Phone Expenses, Employee Home Internet Cost Reimbursement, Workplace Disability Discrimination: What California Employees Should Know, The Basics Of The Duty To Defend In California, The Basics of Insurance “Bad Faith” In California, Anyone Can Read And Understand An Insurance Policy. Besides being a great attorney who cares she is a nice person. In addition, we provide special support for non-profit, educational, and government users. Thus, any agreement made by an employee to waive their right to reimbursement is void. Reimbursement of employee cell phone expenses is governed by California Labor Code Section 2802, which provides: An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer . Most probably don’t realize that when they do, part of their cell phone costs may become reimbursable—even if they have plans with unlimited minutes. Ramit is a passionate and compassionate advocate. There the court answered the question “Does an employer always have to reimburse an employee for the reasonable expense of the mandatory use of a personal cell phone?” with a resounding YES: “The answer is that reimbursement is always required.”. There are a number of laws and regulations that require employers to reimburse expenses that employee incur or to pay for employees use of their own property. For more detailed codes research information, including annotations and citations, please visit Westlaw . Corbett H. Williams is an experienced lawyer who represents California employees in a wide range of matters, including wrongful termination, sexual harassment, retaliation, whistleblower, class action, and wage & hour cases.

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