Employee Expense Reimbursement Requirements in Connecticut
At a glance
| Governing law and coverage | No general business-expense mandate. RCSA § 31-60-10 supplies a minimum-wage travel-cost floor; RCSA § 31-62-E10 separately covers restaurant and hotel-restaurant employees traveling between establishments |
|---|---|
| Reimbursable expense standard | General rule: expenses directly incidental to and resulting from covered travel, only when employee payment would bring earnings below minimum wage. Restaurant rule: transportation cost between establishments during the workday |
| Authorization, direction, and primary benefit | Employee must be required or permitted to make the covered travel; no separate advance-preapproval, ratification, or primary-benefit test stated (§§ 31-60-10, 31-62-E10) |
| Excluded losses and employee fault | No general negligence, ordinary-risk, theft, wear, commuting, or personal-cost list. Both rules are limited by travel category; the general rule also requires a minimum-wage impact |
| Request deadline and documentation | No expense-request deadline, receipt, itemization, certification, or missing-document substitute stated in §§ 31-60-10 or 31-62-E10 |
| Employer policy, preapproval, and caps | No general policy, preapproval, specification, or cap framework. Restaurant rule requires the transportation cost; general rule is capped by the amount needed to prevent a below-minimum-wage result |
| Payment deadline, method, and interest | No separate reimbursement clock, payment method, interest rule, or mileage rate stated; restaurant rule requires reimbursement of transportation cost |
| Enforcement and remedies | Restaurant-order complaints go to CTDOL Wage and Workplace Standards. CTDOL says it lacks authority over ordinary business-expense complaints; no reimbursement-specific damages, fees, interest, or limitations period stated in the cited materials |
Requirements one by one
Most travel expenses are protected only at the wage floor
RCSA § 31-60-10(b) addresses expenses directly incidental to and resulting from covered travel. The employer must pay them when leaving the cost with the employee would bring the employee's earnings below the minimum fair wage.
That is a minimum-wage boundary, not a general promise to repay every necessary business expense. The regulation states no mileage rate or general rule for phones, home offices, tools, uniforms, supplies, or losses.
Restaurant travel between establishments has a broader rule
RCSA § 31-62-E10 applies to restaurant and hotel-restaurant occupations. When an employee is required or permitted to travel from one establishment to another after the workday begins or before it ends, the employer must pay the travel time at the working rate and reimburse the transportation cost.
Unlike § 31-60-10(b), this industry rule does not condition transportation reimbursement on the cost reducing earnings below minimum wage. It states no fixed mileage rate, claim form, receipt rule, reimbursement deadline, payment method, or interest rule.
Ordinary business-expense complaints are outside CTDOL authority
The Connecticut Department of Labor's current complaint instructions say the Wage and Workplace Standards Division lacks statutory authority to investigate “business expenses.” Mandatory Order No. 8 separately directs complaints about the restaurant and hotel-restaurant order to that division.
The cited materials state no reimbursement-specific civil damages, attorney's fees, interest, or limitations period. They should not be read as creating a general expense claim beyond the two travel rules described here.
What trips people up
The two travel provisions use different triggers. Under § 31-60-10(b), the employee-paid travel cost must reduce earnings below the minimum wage. Under § 31-62-E10, a covered restaurant or hotel-restaurant employee traveling between establishments during the workday must receive the transportation cost without that additional wage-floor condition.
Neither provision supplies Connecticut's state employees' travel schedule as a rate for private employment. Public-employee travel rules are outside this survey.
Common questions
Must every Connecticut employer reimburse business mileage?
No general private-sector mileage mandate or rate appears in the official materials reviewed. The general travel rule applies only when the employee's payment would reduce earnings below minimum wage, while the restaurant order covers transportation between establishments during the workday.
Does a restaurant employee need to show the cost lowered wages below minimum?
Not under § 31-62-E10. That rule requires reimbursement of transportation costs for covered inter-establishment travel during the workday without stating the minimum-wage-impact condition found in § 31-60-10(b).
Is there a statutory receipt or 30-day submission rule?
Sections 31-60-10 and 31-62-E10 state no receipt format or expense-request deadline.
Statutes and sources
- RCSA § 31-60-10(b). Travel expenses directly incidental to covered travel must be paid when employee payment would reduce earnings below the minimum fair wage. Official 2026 CTDOL poster (accessed July 14, 2026).
- RCSA § 31-62-E10 and Mandatory Order No. 8. Restaurant and hotel- restaurant transportation reimbursement and the complaint direction. Official 2026 CTDOL order (accessed July 14, 2026).
- Connecticut Department of Labor wage-complaint instructions. The division states that ordinary business-expense complaints are outside its statutory authority. Official instructions (accessed July 14, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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