Can a company not reimburse employees for expenses submitted past 3 months from date of purchase?

My company enacted a policy of not reimbursing employees for business expenses if they are submitted more than 3 months from the date of purchase. My finance department is currently withholding reimbursement on several thousand dollars of expenses. Is this policy legal? If I were to take action how would I do it?

1 answer  |  asked Dec 3, 2010 08:56 AM [EST]  |  applies to New York

Answers (1)

Jeanne M. Valentine
California is the only state that has a law specifically obligating an employer to reimburse business expenses for up to 4 years. It is hard to say whether a policy of withholding reimbursement is legal or not without reading the policy language and knowing how late the expenses are submitted. Also, knowing the type of business in which you are involved helps. For instance, law firms bill our clients for expenses on their cases. If the firm was reimbursed by the client, but the firm withholds that from the employee who lent that money to the firm in the fist place, then you'd have a good argument to be reimbursed. An employee may usually take the expenses as a tax deduction if they are not reimbursed. If you want to pursue a claim against the employer, here is a link to the form to file with the NYS Department of Labor: http://www.labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/wp/LS425.pdf
Good luck.

posted by Jeanne M. Valentine  |  Dec 3, 2010 09:09 AM [EST]

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