Whether you work in a small or large organization, your employer will incur costs and expenses for the business. Some employees spend up their own money on such work-related expenses. The worse happens when such an employer is unable to reimburse its employees for these expenses. If you are a group of employees who spent up money on your employer’s business expenses and you have a reimbursement that had not yet been honored by your employer, you may have a claim. For collective action cases, it’s advisable to have class action attorneys in Los Angeles help you. A class action is the best strategy for many potential plaintiffs suffering from the same injury.

Reimbursable Expenses

When filing a class-action lawsuit, you need to know the rules that apply in your jurisdiction. In California, your employer is obligated to reimburse all the necessary work expenditures you have incurred in the discharge of your duties. Knowing what your employer can reimburse can go a long way in ensuring you’re not disadvantaged at the expense of your job. Some of the reimbursable expenses may include:

• Travel expenses: These expenses may include standard mileage rate for personal car travel, per diems, among others
• Meal and entertainment
• Home office expenses use exclusively for work

If your employer fails to pay for such expenses and you file a claim, he/she should reimburse any attorney’s fees spent while enforcing such rights. According to FLSA, an employer cannot expect an employee to spend up money on paying work-related expenses if doing so would result in the employee’s wage rate falling below their minimum wage rate.

Filing A Class Action Claim

If you are fond of spending up your money on travels, home office expenses, etc., you need to have properly documented job-related expenses and also ensure you are conversant with your employer’s reimbursement policy. Again, when you have been harmed by your employer’s failure to reimburse job expenses actions, you will be required to meet some procedural requirements before deciding to file a class-action lawsuit. These procedures include:

• You must make sure there are several claimants to join in one lawsuit
• All the claimants must show a failure to reimburse action
• Your class representatives should also have the same reimbursement issue. Besides, they must demonstrate to serve the interest of the class.

Once you have filed the class action, all the affected employees must be informed of the legal course of action. Since such laws differ by state, it is advisable to look for a class action lawyer to guide on the procedural rules. Where it’s clear that your employer violated the reimbursement rules, the court may issue a citation.

No employee should spend up their own money on work-related expenses without reimbursements. However, employers tend to have adverse employment reactions to employees who choose to air their grievances on such matters. If your employer retaliated or discriminated against you because you filed a claim due to reimbursement issues, you might successfully file a wage and hour dispute claim together with a retaliation claim. Where such affects a large group of employees, you may have a lawyer offer advice on whether it may qualify as a class action lawsuit.