Employer Shorted All Us Mileage Reimbursements Since January 2025

location: California, USA

Company HQ is in California, USA. My location as a remote employee is Maryland, USA where I reside. My own mileage expenses were incurred in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC, USA. Other employees' mileage expenses would have been across most of the states in the US, though I don't have an exhaustive list and can't assume it's all 50 states.

Using a throwaway account as I'm worried about retaliation.

I recently discovered that my employer has been inaccurately under-reimbursing all employees who created expense reports for personal vehicle mileage in the United States. My questions: how can I maximize my employer's accountability for this error while minimizing my own risk of retaliation? How much of the missing money can I get back -- from anyone?

The situation:

My employer, a publicly traded company, forgot to update the US mileage reimbursement in our software tool we use to create expense reports. The rate was accurate as of December 31, 2024. The IRS raised the reimbursement rate for mileage on January 1st 2025, then again on January 1st 2026, and once more on July 1st 2026. None of those changes to the rate were ever reflected in our expense tool.

I noticed this in September 2026 and reported it to our Accounts Payable (AP) organization. They corrected the reimbursement rate in the software the day I reported this.

When I asked the AP rep on my trouble ticket if the company would be assisting affected employees who wanted to recoup their missing reimbursements or if the company would be making an announcement of the error, I was told no. When I asked if this under-reimbursement was in error I was told no again -- the AP rep said that the company is not legally bound to reimburse for US mileage. By the letter of the law, that seems to be correct in my amateur analysis.

Here's the rub. The company's documented Travel and Expense policy for the US says that the company will reimburse mileage at "the tax authority rate" which in the US would be the IRS rate. This policy language was documented in effect before, during, and after the under-reimbursement.

When I asked the AP rep how we let this go on for ~21 months, she said that the company reviews the reimbursement rates on an annual basis, and the company chose not to increase the reimbursement rate to coincide with the IRS changes. I frankly don't believe this at all, I think it was a mistake and the rep doesn't want to admit fault on the part of the company. Apparently the rep telling me that the company intentionally and silently under-reimbursed all US mileage for that time is preferable to telling me that the company made a mistake. I see it differently, but maybe that's why I'm just a worker bee.

Here's an even bigger rub. Normally a senior manager/director would grant approval to change the reimbursement rate in the expense software. On the day I made my report, that person was out and their delegate had to approve the change. Who was the delegate? The company's Chief Accounting Officer, a person who reports to the CFO. This means that the CAO is aware of the company's under-reimbursement going back to January 1st 2025. This timeline was explicitly discussed in the ticket and the CAO was copied on all of the ticket correspondence. Their silence on the matter is implicit approval of these actions from what I can see.

I've shared this discovery with enough other employees that if and when the company faces consequences for this error the company will suspect it started with me. The money I'm missing is probably around $100 or less, so I'm not motivated by some windfall, I really just want everyone to be made whole because it's the right thing to do. Others who do more driving are unlikely to exceed $200 in missing reimbursements. My company is large enough that paying the money won't be the worst outcome for them, instead it will be the damage to the company's reputation and trustworthiness in the eyes of the employees.

I let my manager know about this, and he escalated to the next manager. That person referred the matter to HR, who then essentially did nothing and has communicated nothing to the effect of "we're going to make this right" or even "we are investigating." The whole thing has become hush-hush.

What are my options for making the company pay the employees what the company's policy says they should have paid, if they are even required? I don't have the appetite to take them to court, but am wondering what other avenues this sub recommends.