Some states have laws requiring the reimbursement of some or all expenses incurred by your employees. . It is also included with Basic, Portal and platinum memberships. . Absent such a requirement, expense reimbursement may be necessary to satisfy the FLSA minimum wage and overtime requirements for non-exempt employees. Photo by Bench Accounting on Unsplash. Further information and detailed scenarios are available in the University’s Mileage Reimbursement Matrix.Â, University Policies, Procedures, Forms, and Guides, Policy Reminder on Internet Access from Home, Policy Reminder on Commuting and Mileage Reimbursements, Coronavirus (COVID-19) Operational Guidance, Office of the Provost: Appropriate Use of University Research Funds. Scope. Reimbursable expenses for remote work The remote work expenses that must be covered by employers in states with strict reimbursement laws includes mostly communications devices and plans. Employee Reimbursement Policy and its Elements. A signed telework or remote work agreement must be included in an employee’s Human Resources & Payroll personnel file before such costs may be reimbursed. ew policy conforms to both Federal laws (The Fair Labor Standards Act) AND State laws. Rightful termination is typically addressed in most company policies, but Rozwell emphasized its importance in a remote work policy. An expense reimbursement policy is used in a business to repay employees for any out-of-pocket expenses that they have incurred on behalf of their employer. Some states have laws requiring the reimbursement of some or all expenses incurred by your employees. Policy brief & purpose. Do not overlook the state requirements. Hence, most reimbursement policies did not address the question of which expenses should be reimbursed and which should be borne by the employee personally. To support a tax-free reimbursement program, employers should leverage data that accounts for each individual’s regionally-specific costs. Our Employee Expense company policy outlines how we’ll reimburse employees for work-related expenses. Expense Reimbursement for Employees Working Remotely Employers requiring employees to work from home during COVID-19 quarantines should promptly review and update their expense reimbursement policies. All staff who can work at home should continue to do so. This means involving both HR and legal. Other states, including Illinois, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire and South Dakota, have enacted laws which may require reimbursement of employee expenses, although case law in these states is not as well-developed as in California. )*; expenses related to gym memberships and/or equipment; private worksite or employee home expenses (e.g., electricity, insurance, home maintenance, home renovations or modification for office purposes, and other similar personal expenses); and. If it is unfeasible to retrieve equipment or an employee requires additional equipment to support effective telework, purchases of the above items require prior approval from the employee’s Lead Administrator.  If prior approval is granted, employees must purchase tablets, computers, and laptops and may purchase other approved items via a purchase requisition through Workday/SciQuest (see Procedure 3201 PR.01 Purchase Requisition Process for detailed process), which will only ship items to a Yale office location.  If an approved purchase cannot be made through Workday/SciQuest and an employee wishes to make the purchase elsewhere, such purchase requires additional prior approval from the employee’s Lead Administrator, who must also obtain an exception from the Controller’s Office. It quickly became clear that every organization should have a policy for reimbursing expenses related to remote work. Companies are paying for their remote employees ’ desks, chairs and computers and are instituting regular allowances for WiFi and phone costs. electricity and rent.) This article provides employees with analysis and tips related to expense reimbursement of remote workers in California, with a focus on the present Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. employee won't qualify as a WCFB unless the employee is required to: (1) use it for a specific or prearranged undertaking which is deductible under the Code, (2) verify that the payment actually is … While many companies have plans to return to the office, many others -- like Dell and Twitter -- have said work from home would be a permanent component of their workforce accommodation. If purchasing items through Workday/SciQuest is impracticable, employees may utilize one of the following alternative methods: Purchased items that require shipment (e.g., from an online order) may be shipped directly to the employee’s home (or other applicable remote work location). Purchases of generally approved items do not require additional authorization (Note: employees making purchases on sponsored awards must continue adhering to applicable allowability guidelines).  Employees are cautioned, however, that purchases are expected to be reasonable.  Overly frequent purchases or purchases in excessive quantities or dollar values may be disallowed and deemed personal expenses, at the discretion of the employee’s Lead Administrator.  Lead Administrators are encouraged to notify employees that existing supplies in department storerooms should be used before additional purchases are made, if those supplies can be efficiently distributed.  Under IRS Reg. Our Remote Work Reimbursement rates are calculated to each employee’s location – ensuring the rates are both fair and accurate. A remote work policy can create cohesion and eliminate confusion or frustration for employees. University Policy 3301 Travel on University Business states: “Business mileage does not include the normal commute to and from work. For employees working from home, the University will not reimburse mileage between the employee’s home and their Yale University work location. All equipment items purchased with University funds are the property of the University and must ultimately be returned to Yale.  If these items need maintenance/repair while being used at home, employees should notify their Distributed Support Provider (“DSP”) or the IT Department (helpdesk@yale.edu). Purchases of the above items are permitted only for medical necessity or disability.  Employees must obtain prior approval for purchase of the above items through Yale’s Accommodations Program and attach the approval to the applicable expense report.  If approved, all equipment and furniture items purchased with University funds are the property of the University and must ultimately be returned to Yale. How to create your work-from-home reimbursement policy. As with all established policies the goal of a remote reimbursement policy should be two-fold: (1) Fair and equitable treatment of employees, and (2) Ending-up with a policy that complies with state and federal laws and one that minimize the employer’s risk of facing adverse actions by employees. The remaining 8 stepes appeared in an article in the November 2020 issue of the Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow newsletter. The first is for the employee to submit their monthly bill highlighting business related calls and the AP department will then analyze and reimburse accordingly. If you’re a remote worker, you’re likely wondering if your company should pay for the supplies, tech and otherwise, that you use to get your job done, just like it would if you worked in the office. basic office supplies, including but not limited to, the following examples: small computer accessories, including but not limited to, the following examples: batteries for wireless mouse or keyboard; Yale PCard and accompanying expense report (see, Out-of-pocket purchase submitted for reimbursement (see. What's more, once the pandemic is dealt with and not an issue (fingers crossed: sometime next year), experts predict that somewhere between 20-35% will ultimately work remotely all or most of the time.  Items retrieved from Yale should be used for business purposes only and maintained and returned in the same condition in which they were obtained.  Lead Administrators should notify employees of the appropriate process for retrieving items and for recording their home location on the department’s Information Technology (“IT”) inventory.Â. This policy applies to all our employees that need to … What is included in our Remote Work Reimbursement rates? The employer may then consider whether to offer additional reimbursement or to decline the employee's claim. What's more, we suspect there was sometimes inconsistency in the manner expenses from different employees were reimbursed. 1. purchase costs or maintenance/repair expenses associated with employee-owned items or related services. 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. The following items, if needed to support effective telework, are generally approved for purchase: Employees may purchase approved items via a purchase requisition through Workday/SciQuest (see Procedure 3201 PR.01 Purchase Requisition Process for detailed process).  Departments are encouraged to designate a point-person (or point-persons) to aggregate employee requests for approved items into bulk purchases for the department.  Purchases through Workday/SciQuest can only be shipped to the Yale office location. § 1.262-1(b)(5), costs of commuting to the place of business or employment are personal expenses.  In general, this also applies to travel between multiple work locations…. office furniture and décor (e.g., desks, chairs, stand-up desks (e.g., Varidesks), etc. This means involving both HR and legal. Information about the Accounts Payable Now & Tomorrow newsletter or purchase an annual newsletter membership, *** New ***Fraud Protection Resource Center, State and Local 1099 Reporting Requirements. If an employer pays a fixed amount in the form of a stipend, the employer's policy should allow employees to submit expenses for reimbursement if the employees believe the stipend was insufficient to cover their work-related expenses. While this change may have a long-term effect on commercial real estate, the near-term fallout affects an organization's work-from-home reimbursement policy, especially with regard to network technology … As more employees become remote, this inefficiency only multiplies. Even if your policy is something like, “we will not reimburse any WFH expenses,” go ahead and put it in writing. Motus provides reimbursement rates for mobile devices, internet and home office expenses unique to each employee… A remote work policy cannot treat employees differently on the basis of any protected characteristic, such as age, disability or perceived disability status, or national origin. A cash payment (which presumably includes a reimbursement) made to an. Prior to the pandemic, there was not much remote working and where it did exist, it was frequently only one or two days a week.  The cost of accessing the internet from home will be considered a personal expense.”. E-commerce company Shopify announced in … Employees cannot be reimbursed for commuting expenses even if employees work during the commute.” This Yale policy is still in effect and applies to individuals working remotely due to COVID-19. 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