Re: Can I Sue My Employer for Failing to Reimburse Me
If you call and ask the California Department of Labor, no one needs to lose their mind. You just ask, and the CADL will be glad to answer your question. Your employer need never know you called them. You explain the situation to them. They will tell you the answer. If you have the law on your side, then you certainly can speak to your employer with more authority. I honestly do not think that you do, as I have seen a lot of travel pay outs, and usually, in what I've seen, you were paid for mileage from your base workstation, rarely from your home, unless this was somehow negotiated at the time you started working at this job.
It would be possible to have a forty mile commute from your home to the worksite, and someone else who works there have a three mile commute to the workstation. If both of these folks drive over to the other worksite in another town, should one be paid for forty miles more simply because they elect to live forty more miles from the central workstation? What if where you are going is closer to your home than your regular worksite, do you get paid less if you drive there straight from your home?
Why not ask the folks who know all the law and ins and outs, and then, armed with information straight from the horse's mouth, you can take this up with the boss, knowing that if they cut a shine, and it comes down to asking the CA Wage and Hour to get involved, you'll be more likely to win reimbursement for travel. Even though you may be fired by this time, you know.
Re: Can I Sue My Employer for Failing to Reimburse Me
As mentioned the company policy provides for more than state law does.
Re: Can I Sue My Employer for Failing to Reimburse Me
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Guybrush
OP didn't say they were violating CA law, he said they violated corporate policy.
I'd be surprised in this case if the corporate policy stated that it would pay anything more than California law says it must pay given how extensive the California law is on this. In any event, the corporate policy may not be worth much. But the company must at least do what state law requires.
Re: Can I Sue My Employer for Failing to Reimburse Me
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Taxing Matters
I'd be surprised in this case if the corporate policy stated that it would pay anything more than California law says it must pay given how extensive the California law is on this. In any event, the corporate policy may not be worth much. But the company must at least do what state law requires.
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Re: Can I Sue My Employer for Failing to Reimburse Me
Quote:
Quoting
Taxing Matters
I'd be surprised in this case if the corporate policy stated that it would pay anything more than California law says it must pay given how extensive the California law is on this. In any event, the corporate policy may not be worth much. But the company must at least do what state law requires.
The OP wrote this...
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This is directly from the policy:"If the employee travels directly to a
customer’s place of business or to a seminar for the entire business day,
the full amount of the mileage traveled qualifies as business mileage and
may be claimed for reimbursement."
That could easily be more than CA law requires.
Re: Can I Sue My Employer for Failing to Reimburse Me
If he were in any state but CA or MA he'd be flat out of luck if his employer refused to pay mileage at all.
Re: Can I Sue My Employer for Failing to Reimburse Me
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Quoting
Taxing Matters
I'd be surprised in this case if the corporate policy stated that it would pay anything more than California law says it must pay given how extensive the California law is on this. In any event, the corporate policy may not be worth much. But the company must at least do what state law requires.
Employers routinely pay more than California law requires for mileage reimbursement since employers typically use the IRS mileage reimbursement rate even though it is often much higher than the employee's actual per mile cost.
Re: Can I Sue My Employer for Failing to Reimburse Me
Agreed if we are talking state law/regulations/rules. However small claims court sometimes will enforce company policy in all states. In fact small claims court sometimes just pull the rules out of the air (or some body part). When I was at a fraternity, we had a cook who wanted a raise, and then start serving uncooked and seriously unprepared food when he did not get it. We fired him. Perfectly legal firing. We had paid his normal rate for all hours worked, even though he did not really work all those hours. We just wanted him gone. He was not that good a cook when he was not taking a job action. He wanted a big severance payment, took us to small claims court and got it, even though there is nothing in CA or federal law to support this action. Small claim courts sometimes look a lot like Wheel of Fortune. I would not assume that all small claims courts are pro-employee however. More like a random outcome generator.