The playbook / While you are signing
The receipt a release cannot cover
The release says you give up any and all claims. Somewhere in a drawer are receipts for travel, equipment or a phone plan you paid for the job and were never reimbursed. In California, that money is in a category a release generally cannot reach.
What it looks like
A broad release paragraph lists every kind of claim it can think of, followed by a catch-all for anything else. Nothing in the agreement mentions expenses. A cover email says the payment resolves everything between you.
What it costs you
People assume the release closed the door, so they never submit the last expense report or ask about it. The amount is often small enough to drop and large enough to matter in the month after a job ends.
What the law says
Labor Code 2802 requires an employer to reimburse an employee for necessary expenses incurred in doing the job. Labor Code 2804 makes any agreement to waive that protection null and void. In Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP (2008) 44 Cal.4th 937, the California Supreme Court read a release of "any and all" claims as not covering protections like these that the law makes non-waivable.
What to do instead
- List every unreimbursed work expense before you sign, with dates, amounts and receipts.
- Submit them through the normal expense process before your access ends, and keep a copy of the submission.
- Ask in writing whether outstanding expenses will be reimbursed separately from the separation payment.
- If expenses go unpaid after you leave, the Labor Commissioner handles wage and expense claims. The Get-help page lists the office and the deadline.
Why this one is easy to miss
A release is written to sound total, and most of it is. What it can reach is limited by law. Some rights survive a signature no matter what the paper says, and expense reimbursement under Labor Code 2802 is one of the clearest examples in California.
What it looks like in practice
The pattern is not a clause that says “you waive your expenses.” It is the absence of any mention of expenses inside a release that sounds as if it covers everything. The practical effect is the same: a worker who believes the release ended every claim does not ask.
What a fair version looks like
The agreement or the exit checklist states a date for the final expense report and confirms that approved expenses will be paid on the normal schedule, separately from the separation payment. That costs the employer nothing it did not already owe.
Related
The unwaivable waiver covers the other rights a release cannot take. Money after the job covers final pay and the order to handle it.
This page is general information about California law, not legal advice about your situation.
This is why the campaign exists
Three simple rules would remove most of the leverage described on this page. A copy by default, in a format you can open, with every change marked.Help get it introduced in 2027.