Sales People Are Entitled to be Reimbursed for Expenses
Today a person called our firm to see if he she was entitled to be reimbursed for the expenses she incurs on the road. The caller, lets call her Jane, works for a large television station as a sales woman. She travels throughout California selling advertising. She is paid a commission for her sales.
Jane often drives her own car on her sales trips and has to pay for her own gas, hotels, calls, meals and every other expense that she incurs in connection with her employment. Her company never reimburses her for these expenses. Jane called our law firm today to see if she had the right to be reimbursed for the expenses. At our firm, we frequently get calls from sales people asking similar questions.
The simple answer is yes, a company must reimburse employees for all NECESSARY expenses they incur as a direct consequence of doing their job. This is required by California Labor Code Section 2802. This right cannot be waived by agreement. Under certain circumstances, a company can attempt to reimburse an employee for these expenses by increasing the salary or commission but only if there is a clear method of apportioning the amount used to reimburse expenses.
We agreed to help Jane recover her expenses and hopefully Jane will soon receive a check to cover all of those past expenses.
