In a recent ruling in the case entitled Cochran v Schwan’s Home Service, an appellate court reversed a trial court ruling and held that: “…when employees must use their personal cell phones for work-related calls, Labor Code section 2802 requires the employer to reimburse them. Whether the employees have cell phone plans with unlimited minutes or limited minutes, the reimbursement owed is a reasonable percentage of their cell phone bills.”

The court also reversed the trial court’s order denying class certification to a class of 1,500 service managers working for the Defendant.

Let’s look at Labor Code §2802. The part relevant to this situation reads as follows: “An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer…”

Schwan’s Home Service’s primary defense was that many of its Service Managers had service plans which provided them with unlimited usage, so they incurred no extra cost to make calls on behalf of their employer. The court identified this as a “threshold question,” that is, as to whether reimbursement was required in such a circumstance.

The court quickly concluded that reimbursement is always required, otherwise the employer would receive a windfall.

This is an interesting case, now to be revisited by the trial court. It also may have sufficient impact that it eventually finds its way to the California Supreme Court.

A question that occurs to us: suppose a beach-front restaurant requires all waitstaff to wear sandals or shoes, rather than performing their services in bare feet. Does the employer have to pay for each employee’s partial use of their own shoes? There is clearly a cost, since each employee’s footwear will then wear out and need to be replaced sooner.

H-m-m-m, we lawyers sure now how to make something out of almost nothing, don’t we?

The information presented is not intended to be, and does not constitute, “legal advice.” Because each situation varies, and only brief summary information is provided here, you should not use this information as a basis for action unless you have independently verified with your own counsel that it applies to your particular situation.