Illinois Division of Labor Adopts Laws Addressing Worker Expense Reimbursement and Wage Deductions
The brand new rules took impact March 31, 2023.
Initially, you will need to perceive the excellence between legal guidelines and rules. Legal guidelines are usually the product of written statutes handed by the U.S. Congress or state legislatures, for instance. Laws, conversely, are requirements and guidelines adopted by administrative businesses (right here, the IDOL) that govern how legal guidelines (right here, the IWPCA) might be enforced by the company (right here, the IDOL). Like legal guidelines, rules are codified and revealed in order that events (right here, employers) are on discover relating to what’s and isn’t authorized. And rules usually have the identical pressure as legal guidelines, as a result of, with out them, regulatory businesses such because the IDOL can be hindered of their enforcement of the legal guidelines for which they’re tasked with imposing.
Reimbursable Bills – New 5-Issue Check
Because it pertains to an employer’s obligation to reimburse workers for work-related bills, Part 9.5 of the IWPCA supplies:
An employer shall reimburse an worker for all crucial expenditures or losses incurred by the worker throughout the worker’s scope of employment and straight associated to providers carried out for the employer. As used on this Part, “crucial expenditures” means all cheap expenditures or losses required of the worker within the discharge of employment duties and that inure to the main profit of the employer.
Previous to the brand new rules, the IDOL provided no written steering for employers to make use of in figuring out if a specific work-related expense an worker incurred was for the “main profit” of the employer. Fortuitously, that has modified with the adoption of the brand new rules. The rules create the next five-factor check for employers to make use of in making this willpower:
- Whether or not the worker has any expectation of reimbursement;
- Whether or not the expense is required or essential to carry out the worker’s job duties;
- Whether or not the employer is receiving a price that it might in any other case must pay for;
- How lengthy the employer is receiving the profit; and
- Whether or not the expense is required of the job.
The brand new rules additionally present that no single issue is determinative; reasonably, “the evaluation ought to concentrate on the extent to which the expense advantages the employer and its enterprise and enterprise mannequin.” Employers ought to instantly revise their written expense reimbursement insurance policies to include the above five-factor check into the coverage and will start making use of these elements in making any such related determinations. If employers wouldn’t have such a coverage, they need to create one with the help of employment counsel.
Reimbursable Bills – New Written Expense Coverage Steerage
It’s strongly really helpful that every one employers have in place a written expense reimbursement coverage. Strict adherence to the coverage can also be strongly really helpful, primarily based on the potential ramifications beneath the brand new rules for any variance from the coverage, particularly because it pertains to reimbursable expense quantities.
The brand new rules present that even when an employer’s written expense reimbursement coverage establishes specs or tips for reimbursable expenditures, however the employer, “by way of direct authorization or observe,” permits for reimbursement of quantities that exceed these laid out in its written coverage, the employer might be answerable for full reimbursement of such bills.
Thus, employers should be diligent in strictly following their coverage. Employers should perceive that in the event that they deviate from their written coverage in any materials means, for instance, by authorizing and/or approving bills that exceed the quantities set forth of their coverage, this will outcome within the IDOL discovering an employer-approved change to the coverage, whether or not meant or not, and requiring the employer to pay the complete quantity of the reimbursement owed to the worker.
Reimbursable Bills – New Recordkeeping Necessities
The brand new rules require employers to maintain the next data relating to worker bills, all of which should be maintained for 3 years:
- All insurance policies relating to reimbursement;
- All worker requests for reimbursement;
- Documentation exhibiting approval or denial of reimbursement; and
- Documentation exhibiting precise reimbursement and supporting paperwork.
Thus, it’s crucial that employers inform any people of their group (e.g., managers, payroll, and so on.) who evaluation or approve/deny worker expense reimbursement requests of the brand new recordkeeping guidelines. Employers must also replace their doc retention insurance policies to adjust to these new recordkeeping necessities.
Reimbursable Bills – Denial of Requests for Reimbursements
The brand new rules present that after an employer denies an worker’s request for reimbursement of bills, or fails to reply to an worker’s request for reimbursement of bills (no time interval supplied within the new rules), and the bills are of the character “that ought to have been reimbursable” beneath the brand new five-factor check, an worker might file a declare beneath the IDOL for reimbursement.
Employers ought to subsequently clarify of their written coverage the method for reviewing and approving/denying reimbursement requests. The coverage must also embody the anticipated time period it’ll take to evaluation and make a reimbursement willpower, in order to preempt an worker from unexpectedly submitting a declare with the IDOL that alleges a failure to reply.
Deduction of Wages from Worker Paychecks
Previous to the brand new rules, an employer may lawfully deduct wages from an worker’s paycheck when, for instance, the employer and worker entered right into a money advance compensation settlement, the money advance was to be repaid by way of payroll deductions till the quantity was repaid, the identical quantity was to be deducted every pay interval, and the settlement allowed for voluntary withdrawal for the deduction.
The brand new rules require extra for such agreements to be enforceable beneath the IWPCA. Wage deduction agreements should now specify a “outlined length” of time for the deductions, to not exceed six months. Thus, employers ought to not solely point out, for instance, that “the settlement stays in place till the quantity is repaid;” reasonably, and for instance, employers ought to specify an outlined length (e.g., subsequent six pay durations, starting Could 1 and ending July 31, and so on.) to point the precise interval through which the deductions from the worker’s paycheck will happen.
New Enhanced Penalties for IWPCA Violations
The brand new rules present that if the IDOL determines an employer violated the IWPCA as a result of the employer owes wages or remaining compensation (outlined beneath the IWPCA to incorporate, amongst different issues, expense reimbursements) to the worker, damages will not be assessed at 2 % of the quantity owed. Now, damages might be assessed at 5 % of the quantity owed, multiplied by the variety of months between when the violation occurred and when the employer pays the quantity owed.
Accordingly, employers ought to train warning in denying reimbursement bills, particularly within the absence of a written coverage delineating such reimbursable bills, and particularly if there’s a good religion foundation to deem the expense request reimbursable beneath the brand new five-factor check.
When you’ve got questions concerning the new rules, please contact one of many attorneys in our Employment & Labor group.
