What limited federal wage-law information is publicly available about an employer not reimbursing use of a personal vehicle for work?

Short answer

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage-floor issue may arise if a covered employer requires a nonexempt worker to use a personal car for work and the applicable work-related expense cuts pay below the federal minimum wage or overtime wages required for a workweek. A 2020 Wage and Hour Division opinion letter addressed hourly, nonexempt delivery drivers and described required use of a personal vehicle as an employer-benefit cost in that fact-specific setting. [1] [2] [4]

This narrow federal overview does not create a general reimbursement right or decide whether anyone can sue. Federal regulations distinguish expenses incurred for an employer's benefit from normal everyday personal expenses, including ordinary travel to and from work. Whether the vehicle use was required for work, whether the federal law covers the employer and worker, whether an expense affected pay in a workweek, and whether state, local, tribal, policy, contract, or collective-bargaining rules apply requires qualified review of the location and actual records. [3]

For a qualified review, relevant materials can include payroll records by workweek, work-related mileage or trip records, and any written vehicle-use or reimbursement policy or agreement. This is general educational information, not advice for a specific situation.