Withholding Money from Former Employees' Paychecks

Question:

I am the proud owner of a glass art gallery in California. Two years ago, on the advice of my cousin, I hired an employee to help me with my gallery. Despite being a great person, this employee is quite clumsy and has broken many items in my gallery. This last month, my employee broke five separate vases in one mighty fall. I cannot afford to keep replacing broken pieces and the artists that I work with are understandably upset. I need to fire this employee. My question is: Am I allowed to take deductions for the cost of replacing the broken pieces from his final paycheck?

Answer:

It is probably a good idea to get rid of the employee. After all, what good is it to keep paying someone that is only costing you money and your goodwill with the artists?

Under California law, employers are only allowed to take deductions from an employee's paychecks if the employer suffered a loss due to the employee's dishonesty, willful misconduct or gross negligence. So, whether or not you can reclaim your losses from your employee's final paycheck really depends on the circumstances that surrounded the accidents.

If, for example, your employee tripped and broke the five vases while he was skipping through the gallery while blindfolded, then you probably can make a strong argument that he was acting with gross negligence and you would be allowed to take deductions for the losses from his paycheck. However, if your employee is simply clumsy and tripped while trying to be careful, then you will probably have to cover the losses yourself.

You should also have your employee's last paycheck ready to go when you have that hard talk. Under California law, you are required to give an employee's final paycheck immediately upon termination.