Am I required to reimburse an employee where the employee has submitted his expense claim outside of the deadline in the expenses policy?

Article 59(2)(b) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (“1996 Order”), excludes “any payment in respect of expenses incurred by the worker in carrying out his employment” from the definition of wages. As such, the prohibition on an employer making a deduction from an employee’s wages, under Article 45 of the 1996 Order, does not apply to a deduction from a payment for expenses incurred.

Therefore, whether or not you will have to pay expenses submitted outside of a deadline in your expenses policy will depend on the drafting of that policy. If the policy explicitly states that expenses not submitted in accordance with the policy will be rejected, it may be appropriate to