# Employee Expense Reimbursement in Montana[^about] Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701 covers necessary job expenses, ordinary business risks, employer-caused losses, remote-work costs, and the limits of the statutory text on waiver. This note addresses employee business expenses in Montana. It covers the state statute and the separate federal wage floor. For the broader topic, see the [expense reimbursement practice guide](/practice-guides/expense-reimbursement). ## Must an employer in Montana reimburse employee business expenses? {#reimbursement-duty} **Short answer.** Montana employers must cover what employees necessarily spend or lose as a direct consequence of their job duties or employer directions, subject to the statutory exception for ordinary business risks. [^mt-39-2-701-1-duty][^mt-39-2-701-2-duty] The statute also requires employers to cover losses caused by their own lack of ordinary care. [^mt-39-2-701-3-duty] "(1) An employer shall indemnify an employee, except as prescribed in subsection (2), for all that the employee necessarily expends or loses in direct consequence of the discharge of duties as an employee or of the employee's 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."[^mt-39-2-701-1-duty] ## Which business expenses must a Montana employer reimburse? {#covered-expenses} **Short answer.** Montana employers must cover necessary expenditures or losses directly caused by employee duties or employer directions. [^mt-39-2-701-1-covered] They need not cover losses caused by ordinary business risks. [^mt-39-2-701-2-covered] They must cover losses caused by their own lack of ordinary care in all cases. [^mt-39-2-701-3-covered] The text does not condition coverage on advance authorization or approval. [^mt-39-2-701-1-covered] ## Must a Montana employer reimburse remote-work costs such as home internet or a personal phone? {#remote-work-costs} **Short answer.** Montana's indemnity statute reaches a remote-work cost, such as home internet or a personal phone, when the employee necessarily incurs it as a direct consequence of job duties or the employer's directions. [^mt-39-2-701-1-remote] The statute does not mention remote work or a place of work, and it states no home-work exception. [^mt-39-2-701-1-remote] Whether a particular cost is necessary depends on its connection to the work. No reported decision applying this section to remote-work costs was found in our review. [^mt-39-2-701-1-remote] ## Can an offer letter or expense policy in Montana make the employee bear business expenses? {#waiver} **Short answer.** Montana's indemnity statute states the employer's duty to cover necessary expenses directly caused by job duties or employer directions without addressing whether an offer letter, policy, or agreement can waive it. [^mt-39-2-701-1-waiver] A policy that makes employees bear those expenses conflicts with the duty stated in the section, although the text does not separately say whether a waiver is enforceable. [^mt-39-2-701-1-waiver] ## How does federal minimum-wage law limit unreimbursed expenses in Montana? {#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 Montana. This article synthesizes Montana primary law and is not legal advice from a Montana-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 Montana*, OpenAgreements (last updated September 30, 2026), https://openagreements.org/practice-guides/expense-reimbursement/us/montana. [^mt-39-2-701-1-duty]: **Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701** — "(1) An employer shall indemnify an employee, except as prescribed in subsection (2), for all that the employee necessarily expends or loses in direct consequence of the discharge of duties as an employee or of the employee's 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." *Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701(1)* [^mt-39-2-701-2-duty]: **Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701** — "(2) An employer is not bound to indemnify an employee for losses suffered by the employee in consequence of the ordinary risks of the business in which the employee is employed." *Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701(2)* [^mt-39-2-701-3-duty]: **Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701** — "(3) An employer shall in all cases indemnify an employee for losses caused by the employer's want of ordinary care." *Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701(3)* [^mt-39-2-701-1-covered]: **Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701** — "(1) An employer shall indemnify an employee, except as prescribed in subsection (2), for all that the employee necessarily expends or loses in direct consequence of the discharge of duties as an employee or of the employee's 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." *Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701(1)* [^mt-39-2-701-2-covered]: **Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701** — "(2) An employer is not bound to indemnify an employee for losses suffered by the employee in consequence of the ordinary risks of the business in which the employee is employed." *Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701(2)* [^mt-39-2-701-3-covered]: **Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701** — "(3) An employer shall in all cases indemnify an employee for losses caused by the employer's want of ordinary care." *Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701(3)* [^mt-39-2-701-1-remote]: **Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701** — "(1) An employer shall indemnify an employee, except as prescribed in subsection (2), for all that the employee necessarily expends or loses in direct consequence of the discharge of duties as an employee or of the employee's 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." *Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701(1)* [^mt-39-2-701-1-waiver]: **Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701** — "(1) An employer shall indemnify an employee, except as prescribed in subsection (2), for all that the employee necessarily expends or loses in direct consequence of the discharge of duties as an employee or of the employee's 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." *Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-701(1)* [^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).