Layed off/ employer kept my last check

[lareina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon
I took a loan from my employer last August for $1000. It was givin to me in the form of a draw (company check). We did not make a written agreement. Just a verbal agreement that $50 would be taken from my paychecks until it was all payed back. It states on all my paystubs that $50 draw was taken. I've payed back $150 so far. Well I got suspended for 3 days and put on probation for 90 days for missing too much work over the past year. I was scheduled to return to work on Thursday November 20th. Same day as payday. They called me during my suspension to notify me that I was being layed off due to an entirely different matter. A fellow coworker of mine went to our employer stating he was married but had developed feelings towards me and was unsure if he could continue working with me. I was layed off because he was falling in love with me but knew it was wrong. So I called my employer back and argued. They didn't even want to talk to me. They refuse to take my calls now. They did however call me back once to notify me that there won't be a paycheck waiting for me on Thursday. They kept every last penny of my last paycheck...80 hours I worked. To pay back what I owe on the loan. They won't even tell me if they have at least a paystub for me to pick up. Can they actually get away with any of this??

[cbg]

Under Federal law you MUST be paid, at minimum, minimum wage times hours worked. I don't know if Oregon has any laws entitling you to more than that. Patty will know when she comes by.

So no, they cannot keep your entire paycheck.

The suspension and termination, however, are legal. Possibly unfair, but legal.

[pattytx]

Sorry, Patty has been busy this week.

Generally speaking, Oregon law requires that you sign an authorization for deductions from pay when such deductions are not required by law. Having said that, a verbal agreement seems to have been made.

I don't know of any law that prohibits the acceleration of the repayment, except to the extent that you don't get at least minimum wage for all hours worked. You can file a claim with the BOLI for unpaid wages and see what they determine about the accelerated repayment.

BTW, semantically speaking, all draws are loans, but not all loans are draws. And the handling of draws against commission is different from the handling of a generic "loan". What exactly did you do for this company?

[lareina]

I did find an attorney to help me. I knew they couldn't keep my paycheck. I never had a written agreement to pay back the loan, therefor I never signed anything. I'm only morally obligated to pay it back. I've also been told that everyday they withhold my paycheck from me...they are by law now responsible for paying my regular wages until I recieve my paycheck. I contacted my employer and asked them to mail me my paystub, they said they would. Curious as to what it looks like.