Final Paycheck

[cheapo]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

Under what circumstance can I as an employer withhold an employee’s last paycheck?

I own a small cd store in Denver and followed a $250.00 discrepancy to an employee that had stolen it. I fired him. He wants his last paycheck, which amounted to almost $250.00. I said 'no'.

How should I handle this?

 

[cbg]

Under Colorado law, you may deduct the cost of the theft from his paycheck ONLY if you have filed a report with the appropriate law enforcement agency. In other words, unless you've reported him to the cops, you have to pay him.

However, that doesn't mean you have no recourse. You can certainly sue him in small claims court for the cost of the repayment.

 

[cheapo]

I filed a theft report with local LE. LE didn't seem to think I needed to file a theft report to withhold his last paycheck. He said that if I withhold it, it would just become a civil matter, which the employee may or may not pursue.

My feeling was that by filing the report showed that we were serious about our what we were accusing the employee of. If we hadn't filed it would look like we just didn't want to pay him.

 

[Beth3]

You should not rely on the opinion of a police officer for employment law matters. That is not remotely their area of expertise. If you want to verify what cbg told you or obtain further information, then contact your State's Department of Labor.

Besides, what the cop told you is wrong. It's not a civil matter. Colorado law requires that the wages of an employee who is fired be paid "at once." If you unlawfully withhold an employee's check, he or she may file a complaint with CO's Department of Labor and they could assess a nice hefty fine on your company for violating an employment law in addition to requiring you to hand over the paycheck to the employee.

 

[cbg]

Cheapo, I got the information I provided you, directly off the CO DOL website. I don't know where your cop got his info, but cops are not experts on employment law.

 

[cheapo]

Thanks for the help.... this has helped a lot.

You don't happen to have the link to where you found that cbg on the Colorado Department of Labor web site do you? I was looking and wasn't having much luck.

 

[cbg]

It's in here somewhere. You need Acrobat to read it.

Sorry about the delay. I was having computer trouble over the weekend and only just got it back.

http://www.coworkforce.com/LAB/FAQs 11-22-04.pdf

 

[cheapo]

Its over.

After I filed the theft report, the Detective calls me and the employee in for an interview. He takes us in separate rooms to talk to us. As the Detective enters my room, he tells me straight up that proving employee theft is very hard to do, even if there is only one guy working at the time. I guess that set the tone for me. Anyway, I went through my whole thing about why I know this guys stole from us, complete with numbers, testimonies, time printouts, yada yada yada. The Detective then goes and talks to the former employee. He is over there for a few mins then calls for me to come in their room. I sit there. The Detective talks to the former employee about all sorts of things. The Detective for the most part, is pushing the point to the employee about how is it going to look to have 'theft' on your record. The Detective says, 'that even if he doesn't pursue theft charges against you, I might'. This goes on for a bit and the former employee agrees to sign a statement saying I can keep is last check, and I sign a statement that says that there will be no theft charges. The Detective sees the former employee out while I wait in the room. When the Detective comes back he tells me that 'It worked out good for you, I didn't think you had much of a case'.

Hmmm... It was interesting to see this play out.