Q: Can my employer reduce my salary to cover mileage reimbursement in California?
I am a service technician and am required to drive to customers houses daily for work. For the past year my boss has not been paying me mileage reimbursement. After learning that I am supposed to be compensated per California law, I brought this to his attention. He has agreed to pay a small lump sum to make up for the past year, and continue to pay me mileage reimbursement moving forward in exchange for not suing him as well as not exposing this information to any of the other employees. However, today he has contacted me and he is now attempting to renegotiate my yearly salary to $5,000 lower than what i currently make since he will be paying me mileage reimbursement. I thought i read somewhere that employers cannot lower your salary to cover mileage reimbursement but i am unsure. Is he still breaking the law by trying to get me to sign a new contract with a lower salary to make up for his future lost wages?
A: Assuming you are an at-will employee, an employer can reduce your pay as long as the employer otherwise complies with minimum wage and overtime requirements. However, the employer cannot prevent you from disclosing illegal conduct such as failure to pay reimbursements to other employees.
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A:
In California, employers are legally required to reimburse employees for all necessary expenses incurred while performing their job, including mileage when using a personal vehicle for work purposes. This obligation is separate from your salary and cannot be offset by reducing your pay. If your employer reduces your salary to cover the cost of reimbursing mileage, that could be a violation of labor laws.
Your employer is also prohibited from retaliating against you for asserting your rights, which includes attempting to lower your salary after you requested the reimbursement you are owed. Changing your salary to offset the mileage expenses could be seen as an attempt to undermine the protections granted under California's labor code.
It’s important that any salary adjustments are done transparently and not as a workaround to avoid reimbursing you properly. You may want to consider consulting legal counsel to ensure your rights are fully protected and that the new contract you’re being asked to sign is fair and legal.
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