If your employer is not reimbursing expenses you paid out of pocket for work, your options depend on two things: whether federal or state law gives you a right to be paid back, and how much documentation you kept. Federal law only steps in when unreimbursed costs drop your effective pay below minimum wage. Around a dozen states go much further and require reimbursement of all necessary business expenses regardless of pay rate. Either way, you can put a written demand to your employer, file a wage complaint, or take the claim to small claims court or an employment attorney, and your employer cannot legally fire you for asking.
When You Have a Legal Right to Be Paid Back
The Fair Labor Standards Act does not guarantee every worker reimbursement. It protects you only when the cost of employer-required items pushes your effective pay below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour or cuts into required overtime. The regulation treats those costs as a “kick-back” of wages: if your employer requires you to buy tools, uniforms, or other items for the job, and those purchases drop your earnings below the minimum in any workweek, the employer has violated the law.1eCFR. 29 CFR 531.35
A Department of Labor opinion letter confirms this rule reaches beyond uniforms to required use of a personal vehicle, tools of the trade, and similar mandated costs.2U.S. Department of Labor. U.S. Department of Labor Opinion Letter FLSA2020-12 For an employee earning exactly $7.25 per hour, a required uniform cannot cost anything at all, because every dollar spent drops the effective wage below the legal floor.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 16 – Deductions From Wages for Uniforms and Other Facilities Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
The gap is obvious. If you earn well above minimum wage, the FLSA won’t help; someone making $30 an hour could absorb hundreds in unreimbursed costs before hitting the threshold. That is where state law becomes critical. About a dozen states plus the District of Columbia require employers to reimburse all necessary business expenses regardless of what the employee earns. Some define “necessary” broadly as any cost that is a direct consequence of assigned duties; others list specific categories like travel, tools, and communication costs. Many attach real penalties for noncompliance. If your state has no reimbursement statute, you are limited to the FLSA’s minimum-wage floor and whatever your employer’s own policy promises.
What Kinds of Expenses Usually Qualify
What counts depends on your job and the rules where you work, but the same categories come up over and over:
- Personal vehicle use for work errands. Employers commonly benchmark this to the IRS standard mileage rate, which is 72.5 cents per mile for 2026.4Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile
- Business travel, including airfare, hotels, and meals when you are away from home for work.5Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 511 Business Travel Expenses
- Tools and supplies your employer requires you to buy, from safety gear to specialized software licenses.
- Cell phone and home internet costs, when you use them for work. This is especially common with remote arrangements.
Gather Your Documentation First
Most reimbursement disputes are won or lost on paperwork. Before you escalate, pull together every piece of evidence you can.
Start with your company’s written expense reimbursement policy, usually in the employee handbook or onboarding materials. It spells out the process you were supposed to follow and the categories the company agreed to cover. If your employer violated its own policy, that is powerful evidence.
Collect receipts, itemized invoices, and credit card statements showing the date, vendor, and amount of each purchase. For mileage, keep a log with the date, starting point, destination, miles driven, and business purpose for each trip. Vague entries like “work driving” will not hold up in a formal claim.
Save every communication with your employer about these expenses. Emails, text messages, and chat logs showing you submitted expense reports or asked about payment all matter. Screen-capture anything in a platform your employer controls, since your access can be cut off. This trail proves both that you followed the process and that your employer knew about the money owed.
Send a Written Demand
A verbal request is easy to deny or forget. Put your request in writing to your manager, HR, or payroll. State the total amount owed, reference the specific expense reports you already submitted, and attach your documentation. Set a clear deadline for a response. This letter is not just a courtesy. It creates a formal record that you asked and were ignored, which strengthens everything that follows.
File a Wage Complaint
If the demand goes nowhere, file with a government agency. Federally, you can file with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division online or by calling 1-866-487-9243.6U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint The WHD will contact you within two business days to discuss your situation and decide whether to investigate.7Worker.gov. Filing a Complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division If the investigation finds a violation, you can receive a check for the lost wages.
If your state has its own reimbursement law, the state labor agency usually has a separate complaint process, and that is often the better route when your expenses are substantial but the FLSA’s minimum-wage threshold does not apply. Processing times vary widely, from roughly six weeks to over a year depending on the agency’s backlog.
Small Claims Court or an Employment Attorney
For smaller amounts, small claims court is a realistic option. Most states cap these claims somewhere between $2,500 and $25,000, and the process is built for people without lawyers. You file a complaint form, pay a filing fee (commonly $30 to $75 for modest claims, though fees vary), and attend a hearing. Bring printed copies of every piece of evidence.
For larger or more complicated disputes, an employment attorney can evaluate your claim under both federal and state law. A successful FLSA wage claim can recover the unpaid amount plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, plus reasonable attorney’s fees paid by your employer.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 216 – Penalties The prospect of double damages plus fees makes some attorneys willing to take these cases on contingency.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss
Federal law gives you two years from the date each expense should have been reimbursed to file an FLSA claim. If the failure to reimburse was willful, the deadline extends to three years.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 255 – Statute of Limitations State deadlines may be shorter or longer. Don’t sit on the dispute. Evidence gets harder to find, and every month brings you closer to a filing deadline that will permanently kill the claim.
Your Employer Cannot Fire You for Asking
Fear of losing the job keeps a lot of people quiet. The FLSA makes it illegal for an employer to fire, demote, cut hours, or otherwise retaliate against an employee for filing a complaint or participating in a wage proceeding.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 215 – Prohibited Acts Courts have read that protection broadly to cover internal complaints to your own employer, not only formal government filings.11U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77A – Prohibiting Retaliation Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
If retaliation happens, the remedies include reinstatement, back pay, and liquidated damages equal to the lost wages.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 216 – Penalties A retaliation claim can end up worth more than the original expense dispute.
If You Are Classified as an Independent Contractor
Everything above applies to employees. If you are classified as an independent contractor, wage and hour laws generally do not give you a right to reimbursement; contractors are expected to build their costs into the rates they charge.
Many workers, though, are misclassified. The Department of Labor applies an “economic reality” test that looks at how much control the employer exercises over your work and whether you have a genuine chance at profit or loss from your own initiative. How the relationship actually operates matters more than what the contract says.12U.S. Department of Labor. US Department of Labor Proposes Rule Clarifying Employee, Independent Contractor Status Under Federal Wage and Hour Laws If you are labeled a contractor but your employer sets your schedule, provides your tools, and treats you like staff in every way except the paycheck, you may actually be an employee entitled to reimbursement. A wage complaint or an employment attorney can help you challenge the classification.
Why Getting Reimbursed Matters More Than It Used To
Before 2018, employees who paid work expenses out of pocket and never got reimbursed could at least deduct those costs on their federal tax return as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended that deduction starting in 2018, and legislation signed in July 2025 made the suspension permanent.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 67 – 2-Percent Floor on Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions The tax-return safety net is gone. If your employer won’t pay, you absorb the full cost, which is the real reason it is worth pushing hard now to get reimbursed.