I booked my vacation before my company changed its return-to-office policy. Can I ask them to reimburse the hundreds of dollars I’m out of pocket?

Unfortunately, some people who are being called back into office have found themselves facing ruined plans and potentially serious financial damage because of it.

Let’s pretend, for example, that Tanya has been called back to the office for her bookkeeping job. She was planning to work from Paris during a summer vacation in August and already booked non-refundable tickets. But now her company told her to come back in July.

Tanya is facing the prospect of changing her plane tickets, or cancelling the trip altogether, and that means she’ll be out at least hundreds of dollars. Now, she’s wondering whether her employer should pay her back the money lost.

So, is the company on the hook for the tickets Tanya can no longer use?

Employers have broad discretion in RTO policies

While Tanya may be upset with the situation, the reality is that her employer most likely has the right to alter the policy, with some limited exceptions, despite the damage that the change will do to Tanya’s travel plans.

“Employers have broad discretion to suddenly change remote-work policies, unless those changes affect a protected class,” Christine Hintze, an employment attorney at Phillips & Associates, told MoneyWise.

Hintze explained that if Tanya had been given approval to work from home due to disability, complaints about harassment, or other protected conduct, her employer probably couldn’t just change the rules.

But outside of those situations, companies can typically alter their policies at any time because of at-will employment rules in the U.S. And, if they do make a change that affects a worker’s trip, there’s no law that says they necessarily must reimburse employees for altered plans.

“In most states, an employer that changes its return-to-office policy is not automatically required to reimburse an employee for nonrefundable flights, hotels, or other personal travel expenses,” Hintze said.

Nance Schick, a New York State employment attorney and global workplace mediator at Third Ear Conflict Resolution, agreed.

“Whenever employees schedule trips, there is always a risk of changes to their work obligations that might affect their plans,” Schick said. “The employer generally has no legal obligation to assume that risk or take responsibility for the employee’s personal choices.”

Did the employer approve the trip?

Although there’s no general obligation for an employer to provide reimbursement, there could be certain circumstances where an employer does become responsible if they expressly agreed to the trip, at least in theory.

“Reimbursement may be required if the employer was aware of the travel plans and approved those plans ahead of time,” Hintze said. “Specifically, the employee could argue that they reasonably relied on their employer’s approval in booking the trip.”

Of course, the problem is actually enforcing this.