Can employer take back commission pay?

[mre0609]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina

I work at Sears and get paid per hour plus commission. I sold a lawn mower to a man who then returned it a few days later. I got my paycheck today and noticed it was less that what I had planned on it being. I was told that the commission from the sale had been deducted from my paycheck. There was no line item on my paystub to show this, and the boss said that she just deducted my hours from 50hours to 40hours to make up the difference. Is this legal? I would ask for my original timesheet back, but once the boss faxes those over to our accountant, she shreds them. The boss writes down our hours in her log book, but there is no backup or proof that the hours she writes down are correct. This sounds shady to me...

 

[pattytx]

Not paying you for hours worked is a violation of wage and hour law. However, recovering commission when a customer returns an item IS legal if the commission plan provides for it.

If you divide 50 hours worked into your gross pay, did you get at least minimum wage?

 

[mre0609]

Where would i find the commission plan? I never signed anything when I started working there, I was originally only supposed to be a delivery person.

 

[ecmst12]

Sounds like that would be a violation of overtime laws though. He should have just deducted the amount of the commission, not messed with the hours.

 

[Zigner]

Sounds like that would be a violation of overtime laws though. He should have just deducted the amount of the commission, not messed with the hours.

Only if the OP is paid weekly

But, I agree that it should have been a straight deduction...