Work expense reimbursement

Illinois rule. The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act says an employer shall reimburse an employee for necessary expenditures or losses incurred within the employee’s scope of employment and directly related to services for the employer. The statute defines a necessary expenditure as a reasonable expense or loss required to perform job duties and primarily for the employer’s benefit. Read 820 ILCS 115/9.5

Not every out-of-pocket cost meets that definition. The statute lists exceptions for an employee’s own negligence, normal wear, and theft, unless the theft resulted from the employer’s negligence. It also makes authorization or a job requirement, and compliance with an established written reimbursement policy, important to the analysis. A policy may set specifications or guidelines, but the statute says it cannot provide no reimbursement or de minimis reimbursement. Read the statutory conditions and exceptions

Who the Illinois Act generally covers. IDOL says the Act covers private employers and units of local government. Its FAQ says state and federal employees are exempt, work must be performed in Illinois to make a claim under the Act, and a bona fide independent contractor cannot make a claim. Worker status can require a fact-based inquiry. Read IDOL’s Wage Payment and Collection Act FAQ

Federal wage-floor rule. Federal rules can raise a separate question when an employer requires tools or other employer-benefit costs and those costs cut into the applicable federal minimum wage or overtime compensation for a workweek. This is not a general answer about reimbursement; it is a federal wage-floor rule. Read 29 CFR 531.35 Read U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet 16

These facts can help identify what to ask about. They do not decide whether reimbursement is owed.

1. Your employer required or authorized you to make a reasonable purchase or cover a loss to perform job duties, and the expense primarily benefited the employer.
2. You have a written reimbursement policy, approval, or instruction that may show what was required, allowed, capped, or due when.
3. You paid for required tools, a required uniform, or another employer-benefit item, and the cost may have reduced the wages received for a workweek below the applicable federal minimum wage or overtime compensation.
4. You submitted, or tried to submit, the expense and documentation but the request was denied, delayed, or treated as outside a policy.

The Illinois statute gives particular weight to the work connection, primary employer benefit, authorization or requirement, documentation, and written-policy compliance. The federal wage-floor materials discuss employer-benefit items such as tools and required uniforms. Read the Illinois reimbursement statute Read U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet 16