An employee expense reimbursement policy is the process an employee must follow in order to be paid back by their employer when incurring business-related expenses. Lost your password? Like most of the other states who require it, California says that employers must reimburse at-home workers for "all necessary expenditures or losses" they incur while performing their jobs. Home » Remote Work Reimbursement; Now more than ever, organizations are enabling their workforce to work remotely. This figure varies depending on the company and the agreed-upon policy. Having a travel policy is permitted. And now that many employees are using their home internet, the business portion of their internet bill is reimbursable, even if they would have had a home internet plan before. And yes, working from home counts as an acceptable one. With work from home not going away anytime soon and becoming permanent for some, now’s the time to revisit your policies to make sure employees understand what’s expected so you’re in compliance on all fronts. If they live in California, Illinois, Iowa, Montana, or D.C., yes. Finally! The payments can't be for income replacement but can be reimbursements for qualified expenses that employees face as a result of the pandemic. CFO Daily News, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest Finance and employment law news for Finance professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Scope. Are Employers Required to Reimburse Employees While Working From Home. And with the spread of COVID-19, of course, perhaps the biggest advantage: Reduced likelihood of getting seriously sick. BYOD, or bring your own device, policies are becoming more common in work environments. Similarly, Illinois requires reimbursement of all “necessary expenditures or losses” an employee incurs within the scope of employment that are “directly related to services performed for the employer,” unless the employer has a written reimbursement expense policy and the employee fails to comply with that policy. Give them an expense management tool to help collect receipts and file expense reports and travel booking software to track travel expenses. 3.3.2 Home Internet Monthly Stipend Reimbursement will be done by a supplemental pay stipend included in a qualified employee’s semi-monthly paycheck up to a maximum of $55.00 per month. Now, individuals who normally come into an office and use the resources there to conduct business may be using their own laptops, Internet, and carving out office space in their apartments and homes. On the negative side of the ledger, at-home workers may incur necessary expenses to do their jobs. We’ll define “work-related expenses” and set a procedure to authorize expenditure. Policy brief & purpose. For instance, where it is mandatory for employees to use their personal cell phones for work, generally they must be compensated for a reasonable percentage of their phone plans. Getting up to speed can be expensive. Policy Statement GRCC shall reimburse employees for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred while traveling on authorized College assignments or while engaged in authorized College business. Those expenses include the cost of setting up and operating a home office. Working from home, as millions more of us are doing now because of the coronavirus, has several advantages. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. All rights reserved. Employees who are familiar with the home-office tax deduction may be disappointed to learn that the write-off only exists now for self-employed people. They may have had an outdated old laptop, inadequate Internet bandwidth to handle multi-party Zoom calls, no proper workspace, no ergonomically correct office chair. The trick to securing greater T&E compliance, Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist, 3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise, Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line, 5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake, 120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO, Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits, T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance, Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money, Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study, A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications. Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Please enter a legal issue and/or a location. 820 ILCS 115/9.5. In the event of a large expense, such as the purchase of a printer or the repair of an internet connection, the expense should be reimbursed upon demand. Copyright © 2020, Thomson Reuters. Employers in these states need to reimburse remote employees for a computer or laptop, although upgrades to home internet and additional monitors wouldn’t be reimbursable, she said. So would cell-phone and Internet use, although employer and employee would likely have to come to agreement on percentages. They must substantiate that business use. So, if we connect it to business travelers, we get refunded by our company when we buy things necessary for us during the travel. Presumably, items like paper, pens, and printer cartridges would be included. Fewer interruptions. Are you a legal professional? Even if employees have “unlimited” phone or internet plans, yes. Under these policies, many employers are paying anywhere from $30 to $50 per month toward employee cell phone bills. DOL issued an advisory in March that employers can't require employees working at home to pay for business expenses when it reduces the employee's earnings below required minimum-wage levels. In its latest cost-cutting move, IBM plans to eliminate a program under which employees who work from a home office are allowed to claim Internet access as a business expense and … Internet Explorer 11 is no longer supported. Reimbursement policies should state the deadline for employees to submit reimbursement requests and should require necessary documentation, such as receipts, to support each expenditure. It seems to be easier and requires less admin work to approve a monthly/recurring internet expense. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, CFO Daily News delivers actionable insights, helping Finance execs understand what Finance trends mean to their business. Our employees are advised to use our company’s internet connection for the following reasons: To complete their job duties. Carrier fees 2. The policies must include the methods of reimbursement and define a procedure whereby employees can submit reimbursement requests. Please enter your username or email address. Good news: Your company can safely reimburse remote employees for their home internet access without jeopardizing your compliance. Ne… Microsoft Edge. Employee internet usage policy elements What is appropriate employee internet usage? And yes, working from home counts as an acceptable one. An employer should prepare a reimbursement form to facilitate the reimbursement request process. However, with everyone working from home now and for the forseable future, we are considering moving to a stipend based plan. So, if you think you deserve reimbursements for home-office expenses, the best option is to ask your employer. Search, Tips for Staying Productive When Working From Home, How to Keep Your Wireless Network Secure When Working From Home. Better work/life balance. Federal law requires reimbursement only when required expenses push a worker’s earnings below minimum wage. to. This means that an employee can recover the costs associated with the business use of their personal cell phone, internet, and car. Businesses can avoid lawsuits under Section 2082 by simply providing their employees with internet and cell phones and reimbursing employees for mileage driven at the IRS reimbursement rate. Employers should reimburse home-bound employees for at least a reasonable percentage of their home internet expenses; risk-averse employers may choose to reimburse the entire home internet bill. Name Kristin Tauras - December 10, 2018. In 2014, a California Court of Appeal held that employers are obligated to reimburse employees for a reasonable percentage of their cellphone costs, even when the employees do not incur any extra expenses in connection with their work-related cell phone use. Exactly what qualifies as "necessary expenditures" can vary from state to state, however. If paying a percentage of the bill, employers should explain the calculation method to employees when they receive the reimbursement payment. A "necessary” expense is defined in section 9.5 as all reasonable expenses that: (a) are required by the employer in the discharge of the employees’ duties; and (b) are primarily for the benefit … Learn more about FindLaw’s newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. Enter your username and password below to log in. The answer is that it largely depends on where you live. Here’s how to reimburse for home internet access and still stay in compliance. In some states — the ones listed above — they're required by law to compensate you for reasonable expenses. Remote Work Reimbursement Mobile device, internet and home office reimbursements for your remote workforce. The speaker is Pamela Fagan Shull, president of Audit Business Services, Inc.  She is a management consultant and compliance auditor to government, business, and associations with global perspective. Nationally, the U.S. Labor Department has not placed any strict reimbursement requirements on employers when they tell employees to work remotely. Cable or phone bill would have to be submitted, along with the percentage used for business specified. No wasted time on commutes. Our Employee Expense company policy outlines how we’ll reimburse employees for work-related expenses. … Trump's declaration gave employers the power to make tax-free payments (and receive corresponding tax deductions) to employees who are impacted by COVID-19. 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