Hi there,

I have two questions regarding resigning in California. First off, I technically reported to the company's marketing office in New York, while I was the sole marketing person based in the company's headquarters in LA. As such, my employment checks came from LA, while my expenses came from New York. I think this means the laws applying to my situation are governed by California since I'm an employee of the company in this state, but I'm not sure.

I resigned in June of this year. The LA office properly issued my final paycheck the last day of my employment, including my accrued vacation. The issue is that I am still owed $5300 in out of pocket business/travel expenses, and 38 days after my NY employer received the expense report and backup documentation, I still do not have confirmation as to when I will be receive my reimbursement check.

I've literally spent hours researching this information online, and it seems that the employer is required to pay the expenses out within the normal amount of time they would have had I still been employed (30 days in this case.) Is there a specific law I could reference about this? And since I know they didn't even look at the expenses until those 30 days had elapsed and it has now been 38 days without a sign or resolving this--do I have a right to say that I will begin to charge interest on this amount? I have been trying to keep this civil and have even mentioned that I'd like to see this amicably resolved as quickly as possible, but in typical fashion I'm not getting much of a response. I obviously had to incur these charges personally and all interest and charges thus far have been absorbed by me. If they continue not to respond to my requests for payment, or likely start trying to question expenses (which never, ever happened during employment), can this be described as willful withholding and obstructive behavior?

Secondly, when I resigned on a Tuesday, I offered 4 - 6 weeks notice, trying my best to prepare the company and to depart on a responsible and pleasant note. I had to wait more than 24 hours to find out when my last day would be (after they already informed everyone that I was leaving), and was informed via company voice mail that my last day would be the following Friday--which pretty much gave me 7 business days to wrap up an office for which I am entirely responsible. I know that California is an at-will employment state, but I have been reading that since they chose to end my employment early, I think this may technically turn my resignation into a discharge. Is that correct, and if so, is it possible for me to file for unemployment? I should add also that in those last 7 days, one of the two people I reported to never spoke to me and sent only one general email response. I spoke with the other person exactly 3 times on group calls. Point being that it was a pretty uncomfortable situation to be put in, and made performing my job duties very difficult.

I tied up all loose ends and projects on my end, and left on great terms with the LA office and all of the NY office except for these two individuals, and even then there would be no issue were it not for the unprofessional and childish behavior on their part after I chose to leave the company. I guess I'm just trying to figure out what my rights are, and how much their cooperation or lack of it figures into building a case.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Regarding your expense question only, I have copied the actual law below. I took a quick look at the CA-DLSE manual and I am not seeing a specific amount of time to pay the expenses mentioned. I am seeing both CA-DLSE wage claims and court actions as available recovery methods.

I am not a termination expert and will defer that part of your question to someone else.

CLC 2802.
(a) 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, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying the directions, believed them to be unlawful.
(b) All awards made by a court or by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for reimbursement of necessary expenditures under this section shall carry interest at the same rate as judgments in civil actions. Interest shall accrue from the date on which the employee incurred the necessary expenditure or loss.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term "necessary expenditures or losses" shall include all reasonable costs, including, but not limited to, attorney's fees incurred by the employee enforcing the rights granted by this section.

A case for what, unemployment? In California, you could be eligible for benefits for the period between your actual last day worked and what it would have been had you been allowed to work out a reasonable notice (less, I believe in CA, a one-week waiting period), although unless you were a very highly-placed executive, it's unlikely a 4-6 week notice would be considered "reasonable" . You can always file; it doesn't take much time, you can do it online, and even if you don't get benefits, you're no worse off than if you hadn't filed at all.

Of course, if you're asking about wrongful termination, I'm not seeing anything here that would provide for legal recourse.

Yes, I meant a case for unemployment on one hand (not wrongful termination), or making a case for obstructive behavior in their not getting expenses paid out in a timely manner. I'm having trouble understanding how much time needs to elapse before I should file with DLSE. I understand that there is no legal amount of time specified for expenses, and as I mentioned, I'd prefer to keep it civil if possible--so I'd like opinions on what constitutes a reasonable length of time for me to wait. Next week is 40 days of the issue not being resolved, with at least six written communications from me following up on the issue.

Also, I don't expect to have received the full amount of the notice I tendered, but certainly I think working out two weeks' notice is customary at the very least.

Also, I don't expect to have received the full amount of the notice I tendered, but certainly I think working out two weeks' notice is customary at the very least.

Possibly "customary" but not a legal requirement unless the employer made this a hard requirement in their policy manual or contract.

IMHO, 40 days to wait for reimbursement of expenses is more than reasonable. Personally, I'd go ahead and file the claim with the DLSE for that now.

Thanks PattyMD and DAW--I appreciate the feedback.

Hi there,

I have two questions regarding resigning in California. First off, I technically reported to the company's marketing office in New York, while I was the sole marketing person based in the company's headquarters in LA. As such, my employment checks came from LA, while my expenses came from New York. I think this means the laws applying to my situation are governed by California since I'm an employee of the company in this state, but I'm not sure.

I resigned in June of this year. The LA office properly issued my final paycheck the last day of my employment, including my accrued vacation. The issue is that I am still owed $5300 in out of pocket business/travel expenses, and 38 days after my NY employer received the expense report and backup documentation, I still do not have confirmation as to when I will be receive my reimbursement check.

I've literally spent hours researching this information online, and it seems that the employer is required to pay the expenses out within the normal amount of time they would have had I still been employed (30 days in this case.) Is there a specific law I could reference about this? And since I know they didn't even look at the expenses until those 30 days had elapsed and it has now been 38 days without a sign or resolving this--do I have a right to say that I will begin to charge interest on this amount? I have been trying to keep this civil and have even mentioned that I'd like to see this amicably resolved as quickly as possible, but in typical fashion I'm not getting much of a response. I obviously had to incur these charges personally and all interest and charges thus far have been absorbed by me. If they continue not to respond to my requests for payment, or likely start trying to question expenses (which never, ever happened during employment), can this be described as willful withholding and obstructive behavior?

Secondly, when I resigned on a Tuesday, I offered 4 - 6 weeks notice, trying my best to prepare the company and to depart on a responsible and pleasant note. I had to wait more than 24 hours to find out when my last day would be (after they already informed everyone that I was leaving), and was informed via company voice mail that my last day would be the following Friday--which pretty much gave me 7 business days to wrap up an office for which I am entirely responsible. I know that California is an at-will employment state, but I have been reading that since they chose to end my employment early, I think this may technically turn my resignation into a discharge. Is that correct, and if so, is it possible for me to file for unemployment? I should add also that in those last 7 days, one of the two people I reported to never spoke to me and sent only one general email response. I spoke with the other person exactly 3 times on group calls. Point being that it was a pretty uncomfortable situation to be put in, and made performing my job duties very difficult.

I tied up all loose ends and projects on my end, and left on great terms with the LA office and all of the NY office except for these two individuals, and even then there would be no issue were it not for the unprofessional and childish behavior on their part after I chose to leave the company. I guess I'm just trying to figure out what my rights are, and how much their cooperation or lack of it figures into building a case.

Thanks for any help you can give. Did you work any overtime that was not paid?