Deducting cost of course

Mainiac

Our employees are required to take a 24 hour medication course in order to have a job. We pay for the course as well as the time it takes for them attend the course.
We are now putting together a policy regarding employees who make medication hours. We would like to state that they will be responsible for the cost of retaking the course, if they make more than 3 med errors in a 12 month period. We would be paying for the hours spent at the course, however, we feel that since we already paid for the course once, it should be their obligation to pay for it again. If they pay for it, can we give the option of payroll deduction, as long as they sign an agreement in advance for the amount to be deducted ($150). This would not have to come out of one paycheck, but over two or three as agreed upon.

Also, if we pay for this course for new employees, can we have them sign a statement that if they resign or are terminated prior to working for us a complete year, that we can deduct the cost of the course from their last paycheck?

pork1

MAINIAC: As to your last question. I would shorten the time being held over their heads. We pay for the initial "drug screening" and with their signed agreement, if they leave us prior to 90 days then we take the cost of the drug screen out of their last pay check.

A required course of instuction could, likewise, be written into their letter of Agreement for employment, to which you both sign. We do not pay for a truck driver to get his/her "Class A" professional license, the employee is required to have that credential prior to enrollment. It would appear to me that you certainly could require that provision as a matter of employment. If, however, the company needs to demand a refresher course due to performance issues; I do not believe I would even want them paying for anything. This being a performance issue (at this point) any mistake after the company pays for a refresher course says miles about your desire to keep quality people. Any mistake after a refresher course could be then their ticket out the door.

Loan programs and banking operation for same has always been available for the employer, however, I do not recommend you get into that for a required "block of knowledge". In fact, unless you are in the banking industry, I recommend you stay away from these benefits as a "night mare" for HRs to handle.

WE DO LIMITED AND ONLY APPROVED BY THE GENERAL MANAGER "pay advance" for situations to which you are asking!

Good luck and best wishes.

PORK

crawfod

Many employers have reimbursement policies for training and the more signed authorizations from the employee regarding the terms the better, so you're on the right track. Deductions from final paychecks can get a little messy under certain circumstances, but if you hold back the money with a signed statement, you will probably be okay.

Now let me butt in to your business, realizing I don't know anything about the training course or medication errors you are referring to or any legal obligations you may have. If I made an error from carelessness or inattention but I knew the right procedure, I just screwed up, then I wouldn't think taking the course again would be the solution, no matter who pays. Why send me to a 24 hour course, and pay me wages to do so again, when I knew the answer, I just made a mistake? You apparently are willing to let me make 3 errors, which I assume you will call to my attention and determine a cause for the error and instructions on how to prevent the error from happening again. If I make the same error repeatedly, when I know better, I should be subject to discipline up to and including termination. How many times will you keep sending me back to retake the course? I don't think formal retraining is your best answer, just OJT to help me, but if I still can't get it, reassign me or unfortunately terminate me.

sandra_d

I agree with the previous posts.

Somthing that has worked for me with respect to getting an employee to agree to repay through payroll deduction is simply asking, "Do you want to write me a check, or should we deduct it from your final check?"

Maybe it is just a Minnesota law, but here the employee can refuse to do either, and if we want to collect, we must go to small claims court. We cannot deduct anything from employee checks without their written permission and then only at the time (or after) the debt is incurred. I've found, however, by giving them the two options of writing a check or payroll deduction, it implies they don't have a choice to refuse payment! (As far as I know, there is nothing in the law that says we need to give them option C of not to pay! :DD )