Just this week the California Court of Appeal held that “when employees must use their personal cell phones for work-related calls, Labor Code section 2802 requires the employer to reimburse them.” California Labor Code section 2802 provides employees reimbursement from their employer for all “necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties….”
Whether or not your employees carry a particular cell phone plan that will cover the minutes used for work-related business, employers owe a reasonable percentage of the employee cell phone bill to the employee. Thus, if your employee’s plan does not adequately cover their cell phone usage and overages are incurred due to work-related calls thereby increasing their cell phone bill, employers may have to pay more than they might otherwise had their employees usage plans properly covered their talk time.
The opinion can be reviewed at: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B247160.PDF
For more information about Labor Code section 2802 and other employment law matters, contact us today.
