Employee Expense Reimbursement Requirements in New York

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The reimbursement duty begins with an agreement

Labor Law § 198-c does not require every employer to reimburse every necessary business expense. It applies when an employer is “party to an agreement” to provide benefits or wage supplements, and subdivision 2 expressly includes “reimbursement for expenses” in that category.

The statute supplies no independent test for necessity, reasonableness, authorization, employer direction, or primary benefit. Those coverage terms, along with any receipt, itemization, preapproval, specification, or cap, come from the agreement rather than § 198-c.

Payment is due within 30 days after the agreed due date

Section 198-c(1) applies when the employer fails to furnish the promised supplement “within thirty days after such payments are required to be made.” It does not create a separate submission clock or payment method.

Section 198-c(3) currently excludes a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employee earning more than $1,300 per week from the section. Two pending bills would alter or remove that exclusion.

Article 6 supplies civil and criminal consequences

Labor Law § 190(1) includes § 198-c benefits and wage supplements in “wages,” except for the pay-frequency and payment-method sections it names. Under § 198(1-a), a prevailing wage claimant may recover the underpayment, reasonable attorney's fees, prejudgment interest, and ordinarily an equal amount as liquidated damages unless the employer proves good faith. Section 198(3) sets a six-year filing period.

Section 198-c separately makes the covered nonpayment a misdemeanor and points to § 198-a. For a first offense, § 198-a authorizes a $500-$20,000 fine, up to one year of imprisonment, or the stated alternative punishment.

What trips people up

The 30-day clock does not run from every purchase automatically. It runs after the reimbursement payment is required under the agreement.

New York also treats cost-shifting through wages as a separate issue. NYSDOL states that employer business costs are illegal wage deductions “whether by payroll deduction or on the side.” That rule should not be mistaken for a universal § 198-c entitlement covering every expense an employee chooses to incur.

Common questions

Does New York set a mileage rate for private employees?

Not in §§ 190, 198, or 198-c. A mileage entitlement or rate must come from the applicable agreement or another specific law.

Must an employee submit a receipt within a set number of days?

Section 198-c states no employee submission deadline or required proof format. The agreement may set those terms; the statute's own 30-day rule concerns the employer's payment after reimbursement is due.

Are higher-paid professional employees covered?

Not by § 198-c while subdivision 3 remains in its current form. It excludes a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employee earning more than $1,300 per week. Pending S2236-A and S1734 would change that result in different ways.

Statutes and sources

• N.Y. Lab. Law § 198-c. Agreement-based wage supplements, express inclusion of expense reimbursement, 30-day payment rule, misdemeanor, and current high-paid-worker exclusion. Official text (accessed July 14, 2026).
• N.Y. Lab. Law § 190(1). Includes § 198-c benefits and wage supplements within Article 6's wage definition. Official text (accessed July 14, 2026).
• N.Y. Lab. Law § 198. Wage-claim recovery, attorney's fees, prejudgment interest, liquidated damages, and six-year filing period. Official text (accessed July 14, 2026).
• N.Y. Lab. Law § 198-a. Criminal penalty referenced by § 198-c. Official text (accessed July 14, 2026).
• NYSDOL, Wage Deductions. Employer business costs may not be shifted as wage deductions. Official guidance (accessed July 14, 2026).