# Employee Expense Reimbursement in Iowa[^about] Iowa Code § 91A.3 requires payment of authorized employee expenses and sets the timing for reimbursement and written refusals. This note covers employee expense reimbursement in Iowa. It addresses authorization, timing, remote-work costs, agreements, and remedies. The broader topic is covered in the [expense reimbursement practice guide](/practice-guides/expense-reimbursement). ## Must an employer in Iowa reimburse employee business expenses? {#reimbursement-duty} **Short answer.** Iowa employers must pay expenses they authorize and employees incur, either in advance or within 30 days after an employee submits an expense claim. [^iowa-91a-3-reimburse-authorized-expenses] If an employer refuses all or part of a claim, it must give the employee a written justification within the same payment period. [^iowa-91a-3-written-justification-of-refusal] "6. Expenses by the employee which are authorized by the employer and incurred by the employee shall either be reimbursed in advance of expenditure or be reimbursed not later than thirty days after the employee’s submission of an expense claim."[^iowa-91a-3-reimburse-authorized-expenses] ## Which business expenses must an Iowa employer reimburse? {#covered-expenses} **Short answer.** Iowa employers must pay expenses that they authorized and that an employee incurred. [^iowa-91a-3-covered-authorized-expenses] Section 91A.3(6) does not list particular types of business expense; its stated conditions are employer authorization and employee expenditure. [^iowa-91a-3-covered-authorized-expenses] An expense the employer did not authorize falls outside the duty stated in this subsection. [^iowa-91a-3-covered-authorized-expenses] ## Must an Iowa employer reimburse remote-work costs such as home internet or a personal phone? {#remote-work-costs} **Short answer.** Iowa employers must pay a remote-work cost, such as home internet or a personal phone, when they authorize the expense and the employee incurs it. [^iowa-91a-3-remote-costs-if-authorized] Section 91A.3(6) does not mention remote work or name those costs. [^iowa-91a-3-remote-costs-if-authorized] Its authorization condition therefore determines whether a particular remote-work cost falls within the stated reimbursement duty. [^iowa-91a-3-remote-costs-if-authorized] ## Can an offer letter or expense policy in Iowa make the employee bear business expenses? {#waiver} **Short answer.** Iowa Code § 91A.3(6) requires payment of authorized, incurred expenses and does not address waiver by offer letter, policy, or agreement. [^iowa-91a-3-silent-on-waiver] The text makes the employer's authorization relevant to which expenses must be paid, but it does not say that an agreement can erase the duty after an expense has been authorized and incurred. [^iowa-91a-3-silent-on-waiver] ## What happens in Iowa if an employer does not reimburse expenses? {#deadlines-and-remedies} **Short answer.** Iowa employers must pay authorized expenses in advance or within 30 days after an employee submits a claim. [^iowa-91a-3-thirty-day-reimbursement-deadline] A refusal requires a written justification within that period. [^ia-deadline-refusal] An intentional failure to reimburse expenses under section 91A.3 makes the employer liable for the expenses, liquidated damages, court costs, and usual and necessary attorney fees incurred in recovery. [^ia-remedy-intentional] In other instances, liability covers the unpaid expenses, court costs, and usual and necessary attorney fees. [^ia-remedy-other] Section 91A.2(6) defines liquidated damages using five percent of unreimbursed authorized expenses for each counted day, with stated exclusions and a cap. [^ia-damages-definition] ## How does federal minimum-wage law limit unreimbursed expenses in Iowa? {#federal-floor} **Short answer.** Under 29 C.F.R. § 531.35, an employer that requires an employee to supply tools of the trade for the job violates the Fair Labor Standards Act in any workweek in which the employee's cost cuts into the minimum or overtime wages due. [^fed-531-35-tools] The regulation rests on the rule that wages count as paid only when they are paid free and clear, with no kick-back to the employer. [^fed-531-35-free-and-clear][^fed-531-35-kickback] The federal rule is a floor, not a general duty to reimburse. It is breached only when an employer-required cost pushes the week's pay below the minimum or overtime wages due. [^fed-531-35-tools] [^about]: By Steven Obiajulu, J.D. Published by [openagreements.org](https://openagreements.org). Last reviewed 2026-09-30. License: CC BY 4.0. Steven Obiajulu, J.D. is admitted in New York, not Iowa. This article synthesizes Iowa primary law and is not legal advice from an Iowa-admitted attorney. This article is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Source excerpts and linked materials belong to their owners. CC BY 4.0. Cite as Steven Obiajulu, *Employee Expense Reimbursement in Iowa*, OpenAgreements (last updated September 30, 2026), https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/expense-reimbursement/us/iowa. [^iowa-91a-3-reimburse-authorized-expenses]: **Iowa Code § 91A.3** — "6. Expenses by the employee which are authorized by the employer and incurred by the employee shall either be reimbursed in advance of expenditure or be reimbursed not later than thirty days after the employee’s submission of an expense claim." *Iowa Code § 91A.3(6)* [^iowa-91a-3-written-justification-of-refusal]: **Iowa Code § 91A.3** — "If the employer refuses to pay all or part of each claim, the employer shall submit to the employee a written justification of such refusal within the same time period in which expense claims are paid under this subsection." *Iowa Code § 91A.3(6)* [^iowa-91a-3-covered-authorized-expenses]: **Iowa Code § 91A.3** — "6. Expenses by the employee which are authorized by the employer and incurred by the employee shall either be reimbursed in advance of expenditure or be reimbursed not later than thirty days after the employee’s submission of an expense claim." *Iowa Code § 91A.3(6)* [^iowa-91a-3-remote-costs-if-authorized]: **Iowa Code § 91A.3** — "6. Expenses by the employee which are authorized by the employer and incurred by the employee shall either be reimbursed in advance of expenditure or be reimbursed not later than thirty days after the employee’s submission of an expense claim." *Iowa Code § 91A.3(6)* [^iowa-91a-3-silent-on-waiver]: **Iowa Code § 91A.3** — "6. Expenses by the employee which are authorized by the employer and incurred by the employee shall either be reimbursed in advance of expenditure or be reimbursed not later than thirty days after the employee’s submission of an expense claim." *Iowa Code § 91A.3(6)* [^iowa-91a-3-thirty-day-reimbursement-deadline]: **Iowa Code § 91A.3** — "6. Expenses by the employee which are authorized by the employer and incurred by the employee shall either be reimbursed in advance of expenditure or be reimbursed not later than thirty days after the employee’s submission of an expense claim." *Iowa Code § 91A.3(6)* [^ia-deadline-refusal]: **Iowa Code § 91A.3** — "If the employer refuses to pay all or part of each claim, the employer shall submit to the employee a written justification of such refusal within the same time period in which expense claims are paid under this subsection." *Iowa Code § 91A.3(6)* [^ia-remedy-intentional]: **Iowa Code § 91A.8** — "When it has been shown that an employer has intentionally failed to pay an employee wages or reimburse expenses pursuant to section 91A.3, whether as the result of a wage dispute or otherwise, the employer shall be liable to the employee for any wages or expenses that are so intentionally failed to be paid or reimbursed, plus liquidated damages, court costs and any attorney’s fees incurred in recovering the unpaid wages and determined to have been usual and necessary." *Iowa Code § 91A.8* [^ia-remedy-other]: **Iowa Code § 91A.8** — "In other instances the employer shall be liable only for unpaid wages or expenses, court costs and usual and necessary attorney’s fees incurred in recovering the unpaid wages or expenses." *Iowa Code § 91A.8* [^ia-damages-definition]: **Iowa Code § 91A.2** — "6. ‘Liquidated damages’ means the sum of five percent multiplied by the amount of any wages that were not paid or of any authorized expenses that were not reimbursed on a regular payday or on another day pursuant to section 91A.3 multiplied by the total number of days, excluding Sundays, legal holidays, and the first seven days after the regular payday on which wages were not paid or expenses were not reimbursed. However, such sum shall not exceed the amount of the unpaid wages and shall not accumulate when an employer is subject to a petition filed in bankruptcy." *Iowa Code § 91A.2(6)* [^fed-531-35-tools]: **29 C.F.R. § 531.35** — "For example, if it is a requirement of the employer that the employee must provide tools of the trade which will be used in or are specifically required for the performance of the employer's particular work, there would be a violation of the Act in any workweek when the cost of such tools purchased by the employee cuts into the minimum or overtime wages required to be paid him under the Act." *29 C.F.R. § 531.35* [^fed-531-35-free-and-clear]: **29 C.F.R. § 531.35** — "Whether in cash or in facilities, ‘wages’ cannot be considered to have been paid by the employer and received by the employee unless they are paid finally and unconditionally or ‘free and clear.’" *29 C.F.R. § 531.35* [^fed-531-35-kickback]: **29 C.F.R. § 531.35** — "The wage requirements of the Act will not be met where the employee ‘kicks-back’ directly or indirectly to the employer or to another person for the employer's benefit the whole or part of the wage delivered to the employee." *29 C.F.R. § 531.35* For repeat use, install the skill: `npx skills add open-agreements/open-agreements` (lawyer-reviewed agreement templates + 50-state practice guides).