Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Re: why no raise?

Until recently, the law in California seemed to be that employers were required to reimburse you for your mileage when you use your personal vehicle for company business. Although the law provides for "actual" expenses related to the use, most employers, state agencies and courts concluded that the IRS "safe harbor" rate was appropriate. However, recently, a Court of Appeals concluded that where an employee is clearly paid more per hour, because of vehicle usage, the employer is then not required to reimburse for those miles. In that case, the employer paid outside sales representatives more than it paid inside sales representatives, and argued the difference in pay was to compensate for the car expense. If this narrow exception doesn't apply to you, then you have an argument for reimbursement for mileage (offset by the $1 they pay you.) You will need to be able to establish the number of hours you have driven, and you can seek reimbursement for up to three years through the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

Regarding your second question, these types of policies are usually not construed as a "promise" or a contract, as there are missing terms (how much of a raise). You may just want to ask for a raise using the arguments you raised in your question here.

Re: why no raise?

Privileged Communication.

If you file in court, you can recoup up to four years of unpaid expenses. Depending on the facts of your case, there may be other expenses, pay that they need to reimburse you for -- e.g., if you take your vehicle home with you, and keep supplies in the vehicle.

The pay raise could be an enforceable promise, meaning that the company could be sued for breach of contract, as well. If other employees have received raises, but you have not, you might also have some type of claim for discrimination. Feel free to respond privately to my email or to the phone below.