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$$ deducted from paycheck to cover stolen equipment

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cynmurph

Junior Member
California

My son had a $2500 piece of company-owned equipment stolen from company-owned pickup truck. My son takes home this work vehicle and the equipment was taken from it during the night in his gated apartment complex. A lock was securing the equipment but it was broken and chain cut. At the time of the incident, his employer was mad, but told him he did not have to pay for it. About 4 months later they told him they "changed their minds" and begain to deduct $50.00 per pay period until paid off. This has been going on for a few months. They recently cut his hours, and told him that if he quit, they would withhold his last check to pay off the equipment. Is this legal? He did not sign anything at time of hire regarding lost/stolen equipment.
He also took home the equipment at their instruction, as they said they do not have enough space to store it on their site.

Thanks!
 


moburkes

Senior Member
From a google search, this is what I found:

http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Deductions.htm

Q. If I break or damage company property or lose company money while performing my job, can my employer deduct the cost/loss from my wages?


A. No, your employer cannot legally make such a deduction from your wages if, by reason of mistake or accident a cash shortage, breakage, or loss of company property/equipment occurs. The California courts have held that losses occurring without any fault on the part of the employee or that are merely the result of simple negligence are inevitable in almost any business operation and thus, the employer must bear such losses as a cost of doing business. For example, if you accidentally drop a tray of dishes, take a bad check, or have a customer walkout without paying a check, your employer cannot deduct the loss from your paycheck.

There is an exception to the foregoing contained in the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders that purports to provide the employer the right to deduct from an employee’s wages for any cash shortage, breakage or loss of equipment if the employer can show that the shortage, breakage or loss is caused by a dishonest or willful act, or by the employee’s gross negligence. What this means is that a deduction may be legal if the employer proves that the loss resulted from the employee’s dishonesty, willfulness, or grossly negligent act. Under this regulation, a simple accusation does not give the employer the right to make the deduction. The DLSE has cautioned that use of this deduction contained in the IWC regulations may, in fact, not comply with the provisions of the California Labor Code and various California Court decisions. Furthermore, DLSE does not automatically assume that an employee was dishonest, acted willfully or was grossly negligent when an employer asserts such as a justification for making a deduction from an employee’s wages to cover a shortage, breakage, or loss to property or equipment.

Labor Code Section 224 clearly prohibits any deduction from an employee’s wages which is not either authorized by the employee in writing or permitted by law, and any employer who resorts to self-help does so at its own risk as an objective test is applied to determine whether the loss was due to dishonesty, willfulness, or a grossly negligent act. If your employer makes such a deduction and it is later determined that you were not guilty of a dishonest or willful act, or grossly negligent, you would be entitled to recover the amount of the wages withheld. Additionally, if you no longer work for the employer who made the deduction and it’s decided that the deduction was wrongful, you may also be able to recover the waiting time penalty pursuant to Labor Code Section 203.
 

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