What Ascen reimburses when you are required to work remotely (US W-2 employees)

Last updated: October 6, 2026

Applies to: US W-2 employees of Ascen who are required to work remotely. If you chose to work remotely and were not required to, this does not apply to you. If you are a 1099 independent contractor, a Canada T4 employee, or employed by Ascen outside the US, reimbursement works differently — email support@ascen.com before relying on anything here.

Summary: If your client or Ascen requires you to work remotely and you have to use your own phone or internet to do the job, Ascen may reimburse the business share of that cost. If you work in California, Illinois, or the City of Seattle, you will receive a set monthly stipend of $57.25 as a work from home reimbursement. Everywhere else it is reimbursed as a regular expense. Either way, submit it within 30 days.

When this applies

You must be required to work remotely — directed to by your client, by Ascen, or by a government mandate. Voluntary remote work is not covered.
The cost must not already be covered. In most cases your client provides or pays for the tools, equipment and services you need. This only covers what the client does not provide or reimburse.
It has to be needed for the work — a business purpose, not a personal one.

If you work in California, Illinois, or the City of Seattle

You are reimbursed $57.25 per month for using a personal cell phone and personal internet access for remote work, along with other costs of keeping your remote workplace running. Two things to know about how it is calculated:

It is prorated — by the weeks worked in the month, and if you are only required to work from home some days, by the number of those days per month.
If you had no internet or cell phone service before and had to get it in order to work remotely, Ascen reimburses the reasonable cost of setting that service up in addition to the stipend. Talk to us about those costs before you commit to them.

If $57.25 does not cover what you actually spend, you can itemise instead. Submit your real costs with supporting documentation and email support@ascen.com so we can review them.

If you work anywhere else in the US

There is no set monthly amount, and what you can claim depends on your work location — some states and cities require employers to reimburse remote-work costs and others do not. Ascen reimburses the reasonable business share of these where the client has not:

Your cell phone bill, where the client requires you to use your personal phone instead of providing an alternative that costs you nothing.
Internet and related utilities, for the additional cost above what you already pay for personal use — for example extra bandwidth or hardware.
Setting up service you did not previously have, if remote work required you to get it.
Home office supplies such as paper and pens, if the client does not provide or reimburse them. Check with us before you buy — there may be a free alternative, or we may be able to order and ship supplies to you directly.

International calls your client’s work requires are handled differently: submit the actual cost of those calls, where it is above what you would spend personally.

How to claim it

Keep your bill or receipt and note what the cost was for.
Submit it in the Ascen portal the same way as any other expense — see How to submit an expense or mileage reimbursement.
Submit within 30 days of incurring the cost. This is the same window as every other expense, and it is what keeps the reimbursement tax-free rather than being treated as taxable wages.
Include the business purpose and the amount. For a shared cost like a phone or internet bill, say what portion was for work and why.

For when the money actually reaches you, see When you’ll be reimbursed for expenses — reimbursements follow the pay cycle, so submitting is not the same as being paid.

Why it works this way

Several states and cities require an employer to cover the costs an employee has to take on to do their job, and the amount and the rules vary by where you work — which is why there is a set stipend in some locations and a case-by-case reimbursement in others. Ascen is your employer of record, so this is ours to pay rather than your staffing partner’s or your client’s, even when the requirement to work remotely came from the client.

This is not individual tax or legal advice. If you need advice about your own situation, consult a professional or your state labor agency.

If something is wrong or you are not sure

Anything about reimbursement, pay, taxes, or HR — and anything about whether a cost qualifies — email support@ascen.com.
Whether you are required to work remotely at all, and your schedule or duties — your staffing partner and your client set those.