With Held Paychecks for Unreturned Company Property

[Tex Revere]

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

Our IT Department is frustrated by a failure of employees returning company laptops after they have left our company. Our HR department seems to believe our options are limited. It is difficult to justify pursuing this legally after the fact due to the laptops being worth less than what the legal costs would be. The only real leverage I can see is holding the final check(s) of the employee until the laptop (Or other items are returned). Thus the questions are as follows:

1) How long can a company hold final checks for unreturned company equipment ?

2) If the company does with hold the final check(s), would the company be able to with hold the full amount of the check(s), or would they only be able to with hold the check amount minus the minimum wage for the hours worked ?

3) If the laptop or other company equipment is never returned, can the company retain the employee’s last check(s) to recover the cost of the equipment ?

The company would only with hold the actual value of the equipment in the event of these occurances. Thanks for your help.

 

[quincy]

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

Our IT Department is frustrated by a failure of employees returning company laptops after they have left our company. Our HR department seems to believe our options are limited. It is difficult to justify pursuing this legally after the fact due to the laptops being worth less than what the legal costs would be. The only real leverage I can see is holding the final check(s) of the employee until the laptop (Or other items are returned). Thus the questions are as follows:

1) How long can a company hold final checks for unreturned company equipment ?

2) If the company does with hold the final check(s), would the company be able to with hold the full amount of the check(s), or would they only be able to with hold the check amount minus the minimum wage for the hours worked ?

3) If the laptop or other company equipment is never returned, can the company retain the employee’s last check(s) to recover the cost of the equipment ?

The company would only with hold the actual value of the equipment in the event of these occurances. Thanks for your help.

What do your employment agreements with the employees say about the computers and/or other company equipment? That can determine what you can and can't do, short of a lawsuit.

 

[Tex Revere]

Reply

I am not sure if they even had one. I guess the question now needs to be what can they put in a contract for new employees to adhere to ? I highly doubt if it is feasible to do this to existing employees retroactively.

 

[justalayman]

the company can institute a contract where a specified amount of money can be withheld from the employees final pay if the computer is not returned. They would have to agree to it for it to be enforceable. You can also require the employee pay a deposit when a computer is issued to them and have it refundable if the computer is returned. The problem then is; what if they do not want to pay a deposit or authorize a deduction? Not issue a computer? Is that feasible within your company?

How about having them purchase their own computers?

 

[LdiJ]

the company can institute a contract where a specified amount of money can be withheld from the employees final pay if the computer is not returned. They would have to agree to it for it to be enforceable. You can also require the employee pay a deposit when a computer is issued to them and have it refundable if the computer is returned. The problem then is; what if they do not want to pay a deposit or authorize a deduction? Not issue a computer? Is that feasible within your company?

How about having them purchase their own computers?

If the contract is presented to a new hire, then signing it could be a condition of employment. Having them buy their own computer might cause more complications.

 

[justalayman]

LdiJ;3250343]If the contract is presented to a new hire, then signing it could be a condition of employment.

absolutely but what do you see wrong with it being a condition of continued employment for current employees? Companies change policies all the time without having to limit them to new employees only.

Having them buy their own computer might cause more complications.

yes, it could be a problem in some situations. I was just tossing it out as a possibility the OP could look at. Not knowing the situation, I figured the OP could look into it if they believed it to be something that would benefit them.

 

[cbg]

There is only one state in the US where an employer may legally hold the final paycheck pending the return of company property - that state is not Texas.

 

[LdiJ]

absolutely but what do you see wrong with it being a condition of continued employment for current employees? Companies change policies all the time without having to limit them to new employees only.


yes, it could be a problem in some situations. I was just tossing it out as a possibility the OP could look at. Not knowing the situation, I figured the OP could look into it if they believed it to be something that would benefit them.

cbg already commented on the first part of your post...I will comment on the second...

Many new hires could not afford to buy a computer.
If they already had a computer it might not be compatible with company needs.
Or they might buy a computer that is not compatible with company needs.
Or, having them use a personal computer for company purposes might leave sensitive company material on the employee's personal property.

With so much more stuff being "in the cloud" these days its less problematic than it has been in the past, but there is still the issue of a computer being able to access the cloud.

 

[justalayman]

Many new hires could not afford to buy a computer.

so? I guess that means they can't accept the job. I know many people that have considerable expenditures so they can accept a job. Heck, when is the last time you priced out a semi-tractor? Without owning or leasing one, you cannot contract out as an owner operator. I know mechanics that have 10's of thousands of dollars in tools. Without those tools, they cannot accept employment as a mechanic. While it may cause some prospective employees to not be able to accept an offer of employment, in itself is not a valid reason to shoot down the idea.

If they already had a computer it might not be compatible with company needs.
Or they might buy a computer that is not compatible with company needs.

then I suggest they find out what is needed before purchasing one but since a computer is pretty much a computer, incompatibility of hardware when speaking of laptops is not going to be an issue. While some designs of computers would perform better in any given application, they are all going to do the bascs operations required, just some computers are going to do it more efficiently or faster.

Or, having them use a personal computer for company purposes might leave sensitive company material on the employee's personal property.

and that is somehow less secure than the employee taking home a company owned computer that has the exact same data stored on it? where the employee presumably has access to this sensitive data whether it be an employee owned or company owned machine? Not seeing your point at all. Hell, a guy with a pencil and paper can copy what they see on the screen. Who owns the computer really is not relevant for this issue.

With so much more stuff being "in the cloud" these days its less problematic than it has been in the past, but there is still the issue of a computer being able to access the cloud.

if you can access the internet, you can access "the cloud". All the cloud is is storage capacity on somebody else's servers rather than storing it on your own storage devices.

and I do not believe cbg was referring to my post but the OP's questions.