If an employer requires you to use your vehicle to go on sales calls, must he reimburse you for that use?

Question

A local sales company is not reimbursing their employees for using their personal vehicles and cell phones to conduct the business of the company and continues to put off their young employess request for reimbursement. This sounds very illegal to me. Is it though?

Answer 1

Employers are not required to reimburse employees for anything, as long as it was not stated in the hiring provisions. They can use it as a tax deduction though.

Answer 2

This should have been discussed during the hiring process. If the employee agreed to this when they were hired they should have been expecting it. There is nothing illegal about it. When a company offers a vehicle reimbursement they often require the employee to carry additional insurance naming the company as additional insured. This is very expensive for the employee, and will usually negate the reimbursement.

Answer 3

They do not have to reimburse you. I would save every receipt from your cellphone bill and all of the mileage and gas that you spend on work related driving. The only plus size is that the government deductions are pretty handsome as they pay more cents per mile and they allow for depreciation of your vehicle. Use this job as a stepping stone, but unless its a tiny company just getting starting, it does not seem to be very generous with their benefits.
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Answer 4

It's not illegal. You either make that deal when you sign on or you don't. However, you may be able to deduct your expenses on your income tax using Form 2106 or 2106-EZ for Unreimbursed Employee Business Expenses.