I know I have touched on this issue before, but it impacts so many industries, it bears repeating.  And I am going to start with a story.

Several years ago, I was sitting at one of my favorite bars in Hollywood and chatting to the bartenders, all of whom I knew.  They were changing shifts, and as a new bartender came on, another was leaving.  I watched him gather up a bunch of bar tools and start to head out. 

“Wait,” I said.  “Are they making you bring your own bar tools to work?” 

“Yeah,” he replied.  “It’s always been that way in the industry.”

This is the line I often hear from my clients when I discover, and question, their policy about requiring employees to bring tools or equipment to work.  Both the California Labor Code and the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders make clear that it is the responsibility of the EMPLOYER to provide the requisite tools and equipment for work.  There is an exception to this rule for employees who are paid DOUBLE MINIMUM WAGE (using the state minimum wage).  In 2024, California’s minimum wage is $16 an hour.  That means that unless you are paying your employees $32 an hour, you must supply all necessary tools and equipment.  That will increase to $33 an hour in January, 2025, when the state minimum wage increases to $16.50.

And that means that as an employer, for any employee paid under $32 an hour, you must provide items like pens, pads of paper, knives, and crumbers (for restaurant workers), work tools (for maintenance and construction workers), office supplies (for any employee needing them, including those working remotely), and any devices required for work (iPads, smartphones, laptops). 

There are certain items that most people are presumed to have and that we can require for the job, such as having a car.  While we cannot necessarily require that an office worker have a car, it can be a requirement for a field worker who travels to different sites during the day.   But, as we have discussed several times in prior Briefings, we then must reimburse those employees for the cost of operating those vehicles.   The California agencies and courts suggest that using the IRS mileage rate is presumed to be a reasonable reimbursement.  

I am sometimes told that employees want to use their own tools.  This is especially true with seasoned people in the craft, such as chefs or maintenance workers.  It is even considered a rite of passage in some industries to acquire and possess these tools.  If an employee VOLUNTARILY wishes to use their own tools, that can be allowed.  However, ALWAYS have a sufficient availability of necessary tools (knives, work tools) on site, and make it clear that employees can use company-provided tools and equipment.  If employees do bring their own tools to work voluntarily, please take care with these items.  Most likely, if they are stolen or damaged at work, you, as the employer, will be responsible.   And have a written policy to address these issues.

Most employees have their own mobile devices these days, and allowing employees to use their own smartphones for work is appropriate SO LONG AS you reimburse them for the use of those phones.  However, in a setting where regular use of phones is truly required (delivery drivers, field workers, security guards), it may be wise to offer a company provided phone or other two-way communication device, at least as an option.

We are not yet at the stage where we can assume that every worker in America has a suitable computer.  If we need employees to be using a desktop or laptop on a regular basis, that should be provided by the company.  Again, if the employee does have and wishes to use their own laptop, we should be reimbursing for the cost of operating it. 

As I have previously lectured you all, failure to reimburse for these expenses is a popular claim in wage and hour cases, including PAGA and class action lawsuits.  So, too, is the allegation that employees were forced to bring or use their own tools and equipment.  Several years ago, Red Robin had a class action settlement worth many millions of dollars.  The crux of the lawsuit was the company’s requirement that employees bring their own pads of paper and pens to work.  Do NOT nickel and dime your employees.  The cost of a few pens is not worth a multi-million-dollar PAGA suit.

I know, pens go missing.  And glasses break in the kitchen.  We still cannot hold our employees responsible for the expenses of running a business.  If a particular employee seems to be more careless than most, our recourse, as always, is to counsel and potentially terminate.  In the absence of an act like outright theft, don’t hold our employees financially responsible for business losses.