With the holidays upon us the end of the year is fast approaching and it will be tax time before you know it. If you are an independent contractor you will want to use every deduction you can find, but what about employees? While your employer has the right to deduct such things as taxes and social security from your paycheck, many employers try to deduct other monies to cover their own cost calling them mandatory fees for employees. Below we have deciphered some of the most common ILLEGAL DEDUCTIONS made by companies from their employee’s paychecks.

Don’t let your company pass on their expenses to you!

Lawful Deductions

Your employer may lawfully withhold monies from your pay only for the following reasons:

1. They may withhold amounts required by State or Federal Government such as income taxes.

2. The company may deduct monies approved in writing by the employee before hand to cover insurance, retirement contributions, or payback of previous draw on wages. These must be in writing for the exact dates and amounts, and there are additional guidelines on how much they can deduct.

3. Deductions may be made to cover health insurance, welfare or pension contributions when it is included in a collective bargaining agreement, as in the case of union members.

UNLAWFUL Deductions

It is not legal for your employer to withhold money for any of the following:

1. Gratuities paid by patrons. Other than tip pooling, where there is a well explained companywide policy for the sharing of tips where direct table service is provided the company has no lawful right to collect, take or withdraw  gratuities from you wages. Gratuities left for the employee are just that and may not be absorbed by the company.

2. Should your employer, for any reason require a photograph of you as employee or applicant they must pay for those photographs to be taken.

3. If for any reason your employer requires an insurance policy or bond for your employment they must pay the fees involved and not pass that cost on to you.

4. This one is hotly contested on just what constitutes a uniform, but the law stands that if you are required to wear a uniform, the company must pay for that uniform. In the case of some employees this may be quite expensive.

5. Business expenses incurred by an employee and not an independent contractor MUST be paid by the employer. The employee is entitled to reimbursement for ALL monies paid out as a requirement to fulfill their job duties. This can include anything from meals for clients, gas and mileage for business travel, phone bills for work calls and so on. Because employees are not given business deductions as independent contractors are these expenses must be paid by the company.

6. If you are required to have a medical or physical examination to get or keep your job it must be paid for by the company who has required it. This includes drug or TB testing; your company can not deduct this cost from current or future wages.

If you have had an employer make deductions like these, whether large or small it could be a sign of a larger problem. United Employees Law Group Specializes in a whole picture approach that helps to weed out all the errors made in your pay and help you collect the full amount owed. Many of these cases are companywide and may be cause for a class action suit as well.

You only have a limited amount of time to file your claim for past wages so call today for FREE.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/ Dragon Images

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Use Your Cell Phone For Work, Get Reimbursed By Your Employer

Has your employer ever asked you to make or receive business calls on your personal cell phone? If you worked for Schwan’s home delivery, you were expected to use your own phone without reimbursement of any expenses. Colin Cochran, a service manager with Schwan’s filed suit against his employer after Schwan’s refused to reimburse his cellphone bill for business related calls. Mr. Cochran was joined by other service managers and filed a Class Action lawsuit. The case made its way to the Court of Appeals in California (Case No. B247160), in which the Court held that if an employee uses his or her personal cellphone for work-related calls, then the employer must reimburse the employee for a reasonable amount of their cellphone bill.

The Court used Section 2802 of the California Labor Code as a basis for its decision which reads:
(a) An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying the directions, believed them to be unlawful.
(b) All awards made by a court or by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for reimbursement of necessary expenditures under this section shall carry interest at the same rate as judgments in civil actions. Interest shall accrue from the date on which the employee incurred the necessary expenditure or loss.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term “necessary expenditures or losses” shall include all reasonable costs, including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees incurred by the employee enforcing the rights granted by this section.
The case will be remanded back to the lower court for class-action certification wherein the class, totaling 1,500 members, will have the opportunity to sue Schwan’s Home Service collectively.

If you have any questions about this article, or believe you may be owed money by your current or former employer, CALL TOADY. Our experienced, San Jose Employment Attorneys are waiting to help you.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Roman Samborskyi

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