In most private-sector jobs, employers do not have to pay for meals while traveling under federal law, but roughly a dozen states require reimbursement of necessary business expenses, and even where no state law applies, unreimbursed meal costs cannot legally drag your effective pay below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
The Federal Default
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets wage and overtime rules for most U.S. workers, and it contains no general requirement that employers cover meals during business travel. So long as your take-home pay stays at or above the federal minimum wage after subtracting unreimbursed out-of-pocket costs, your employer has met its obligation under federal law.1eCFR. 29 CFR Part 531 — Wage Payments Under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
That floor is still $7.25 per hour in 2026, and it is measured across a full workweek, not day by day.2U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws For salaried professionals the floor rarely matters. For hourly workers on long trips it can. In an expensive city, a single day of meals can easily run $50, and if a week’s worth of unreimbursed food effectively drops your hourly rate below $7.25 for the hours you actually worked, that is an FLSA violation.
One wrinkle: the FLSA treats meals as something “primarily for the benefit and convenience of the employee.” An employer can count the reasonable cost of meals it furnishes, such as food from a company cafeteria, toward the minimum-wage calculation. It cannot force you to spend your own wages on meals if doing so pushes you below the floor.1eCFR. 29 CFR Part 531 — Wage Payments Under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
States That Require Reimbursement
Roughly a dozen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws requiring employers to reimburse employees for necessary business expenses. In those jurisdictions, if a meal is a reasonable and unavoidable cost of business travel, the cost falls on the employer. The specifics vary. Some statutes cover any expense incurred while performing job duties. Others focus more narrowly on expenses the employer authorized or directed.
The practical effect is significant. Employees in these states can compel reimbursement for reasonable travel meals, and employers who refuse can face civil liability. Penalties often include the unpaid amount, the employee’s attorney fees, and in some cases liquidated damages equal to the original claim. If you are unsure whether your state has an expense reimbursement law, your state labor department’s website is the best starting point.
Federal Employees and Government Contractors
Different rules apply if you work for the federal government. Federal civilian employees travel under the Federal Travel Regulation, which requires the employing agency to pay subsistence expenses, including meals, on official trips lasting more than 12 hours. Payment comes either through a per diem allowance or an actual-expense method. Narrow exceptions exist for voluntary training where the employee agrees to forgo subsistence and for pre-employment interviews the agency has not authorized for payment.3eCFR. 41 CFR Part 301-11 — Subsistence Expenses
Employees of government contractors are a different case. The Federal Travel Regulation does not cover them directly. Instead, the Federal Acquisition Regulation caps what a contractor can bill the government for employee travel meals at the per diem rates set by the FTR.4Acquisition.gov. FAR 31.205-46 Travel Costs Whether your contractor employer then reimburses you in full, or only up to that government-allowable amount, depends on its internal policy, not federal law.
How Per Diem Reimbursement Works
Many employers, public and private, use per diem rates rather than collecting receipts for every meal. The company pays a flat daily allowance meant to cover meals and incidentals. The General Services Administration publishes location-specific per diem rates for the continental United States, and the IRS publishes a simplified high-low benchmark.
For the period beginning October 1, 2025, the IRS high-low substantiation method sets the meals-and-incidentals rate at $86 per day for high-cost localities and $74 per day for other locations within the continental U.S.5Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2025-54 Special Per Diem Rates These figures set the ceiling for what the IRS considers automatically substantiated without detailed receipts, which is why they influence private-sector policies even though no private employer is required to use them.
You typically do not receive the full daily allowance on every calendar day of a trip. On the first and last days of travel lasting 24 hours or more, the rate is 75 percent of the meals-and-incidentals amount; full days in between are reimbursed at 100 percent. Trips longer than 12 hours but shorter than 24 pay 75 percent for each calendar day in travel status, and trips of 12 hours or less do not qualify for subsistence reimbursement under the FTR.6eCFR. 41 CFR Part 301-11 Subpart A — General Rules
Per diem payments made under an accountable plan at or below the federal rate generally are not treated as taxable income. Amounts paid above the federal rate must be treated as taxable wages.
Getting Paid for Meal Time on the Road
Who pays for the food is one question. Whether you get paid for the time spent eating is a separate one. Under federal regulations, a genuine meal break of at least 30 minutes is not compensable work time, but only if you are completely free from all duties while you eat.7eCFR. 29 CFR 785.19 — Meal You do not have to be allowed to leave the premises. What matters is that no one is asking you to work.
Eating lunch while reviewing spreadsheets, sitting through a working dinner with a client, or answering calls during a meal all mean you were not relieved from duty. That time is compensable at your regular rate.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act It also counts toward the 40-hour weekly threshold that triggers overtime. If you already have 38 hours logged and then spend two hours at a mandatory client dinner, you are owed at least one-and-a-half times your regular rate for those two hours.
What Counts as Traveling Away From Home
The IRS considers you “traveling away from home” only when your work takes you away from your tax home, generally the city or area where your main place of business is located, for substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work, and you need to stop for sleep or rest to meet the demands of the trip.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463 — Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses Driving an hour to a meeting and returning the same afternoon does not qualify. Napping in your car between meetings does not either.
This definition matters because it controls whether meal expenses qualify for per diem treatment, whether your employer’s reimbursement can be paid tax-free, and whether you can claim any deduction on your personal return.
Unreimbursed Travel Meals on Your Taxes
If your employer does not reimburse travel meals, tax deductions are limited. For most W-2 employees, the ability to deduct unreimbursed business expenses was suspended from 2018 through 2025 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As of early 2026, the IRS still states that most employees cannot deduct unreimbursed travel expenses. Military reservists, qualified performing artists, fee-basis state or local government officials, and eligible educators kept the deduction throughout.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 511 — Business Travel Expenses
If you fall into one of those categories, the IRS limits the meal portion to 50 percent of the unreimbursed cost, reported on Form 2106 and carried to Form 1040 as an adjustment to income.10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 511 — Business Travel Expenses Because this area of tax law has been changing frequently, check the current IRS guidance before filing.
Independent contractors and sole proprietors are in a different position. They can deduct 50 percent of business meal costs on Schedule C, because the TCJA suspension applied only to employee-level miscellaneous itemized deductions.
If Your Employer Refuses to Pay
Your options depend on where you work and whether the refusal violates a specific law.
In states with mandatory expense reimbursement laws, you can file a wage claim with your state labor department. Most state agencies accept claims at no cost or for a nominal filing fee, and an investigator will typically contact your employer on your behalf. Many claims resolve within a few weeks; more complex disputes can take longer.
Even where no state reimbursement law applies, if unreimbursed meal costs push your effective hourly pay below the federal minimum wage, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The FLSA also protects you from retaliation. Your employer cannot fire, demote, or otherwise punish you for filing a complaint, whether the complaint is made internally to a manager or externally to the government, and that protection applies regardless of whether your particular job is otherwise covered by the FLSA.11U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #77A: Prohibiting Retaliation Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
If neither a state law nor a minimum-wage violation is involved, your legal options are narrower. You may still have a claim if your employer promised reimbursement in a written policy, employment contract, or offer letter and then refused to honor it. That can support a breach-of-contract claim. In any of these situations, careful documentation of your expenses from the start gives you the strongest foundation for recovery.
A short internal deadline is worth taking seriously for the same reason. Most employers require expense reports within 30 to 60 days of the trip, and missing that window can mean forfeiting reimbursement entirely, even in states that mandate it, because the employer can point to your failure to follow the procedure. The IRS’s own safe harbor treats expenses substantiated within 60 days as timely, and blowing past it can turn a tax-free reimbursement into taxable wages.12eCFR. 26 CFR 1.62-2 — Reimbursements and Other Expense Allowance Arrangements