Deduction to Wages

jmcaa

(I also posted this on under Wage & Hour, but only received one response, so thought I'd try here also -- Thanks!)

Daughter-in-law works for SuperAmerica. She was Assistant Manager. Didn't like hours so talked to boss and went back to Cashier. She had received a $1 raise as an Assistant Manager. She mentioned this extra $1 to her Assistant Manager and Store Manager. They told her not to worry about it. Well now, 5 months after she informed them, they have still been paying her the extra money PLUS she has still been doing most of the work for that position. They informed her today that they would be taking that money back all the way to March of this year.

Is there anything she can do?

I know that they can't drop her wages below the minimum wage when they do a deduction.

Can they do the deduction without her consent? She was still doing the majority of the work the extra money was for.

I've advised her to call the Department of Labor, but wanted to know if anyone could give some advice.

Thanks!

National Guard

I say Yes and No!

She is learning the hard way, that just because the overpayment was brought to their attention does not release her of any obligation to pay it back. Should not have spent the $(don't know if she did do that, just supposing) because eventually the mistake would be corrected and have to be paid back.

The company does have to give her due process. Which means they have to notify her that they will be taking the $ back. It sounds like they already did notify her. They can be nice and make an arrangement for her to pay it back in installments.

Crout

It depends on State law. She may have to give them explicit permission to make that deduction, which would mean that she could refuse, and again, depending on State law, they might....I say might...not be able to retaliate. But you must check the law. Here in PA the employee must give permission for such a deduction, but there's also no protection against retaliation.

LivindonSouth

Just for the sake of the discussion, here's the answer I gave you on the Wage/Hour site.

Calling the state DOL, if you have one, is probably the best advice. In the meantime, I recommend she pay a lawyer $75 to write a letter advising the employer they have no authority to do what they propose. Otherwise, her next check will reflect the deduction. Also, if I were her, I'd quit.





Disclaimer: This message is not intended to offend or attack. It is posted as personal opinion. If you find yourself offended or uncomfortable, email me and let me know why.

marc

Don's idea about the lawyer is probably the only way she can cause something different to happen. I assume she has nothing documented about the comments to not worry about the extra $1 per hour. If so, that information would have to come out of a deposition - and getting them to admit or remember that conversation may be harder than trying to pull hens teeth.

The fact that she does a lot of extra work will probably not be a factor - the cashier's job just pays so much money.

Your states DOL or Wage and Hour might also be of help - again suggested by Livindon - and they are free.

The idea of looking for work elsewhere would be appealing to me were I in that situation - seems she can't trust management to stick up for their word or for her. That's a pretty bad sign.