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I have done some homework and you should too. There are only a few reasons why an employer can take money from a last check like to cover insurance- but to keep it because your contract was cancelled or you were terminated- guess what get mad folks they can not- they have to take it to Indistrial relations- stop the injustice- knowledge is power become powerful!!!!
New York State Department of Labor - Wages and Hours
Q: What deductions can be made from an employee's wages?

A: Section 193 of the Labor Law states:

1. No employer shall make any deduction from the wages of an employee, except deductions which:

a. are made in accordance with the provisions of any law or any rule or regulation issued by any governmental agency; or b. are expressly authorized in writing by the employee and are for the benefit of the employee (such as payments for insurance premiums, pension or health and welfare benefits, contributions to charitable organizations, payments for United States bonds, payments for dues or assessments to a labor organization).

Employers may not deduct from wages the cost of breakage or spoilage of materials; nor may employers make wage deductions in any indirect manner, such as requiring a worker to pay for shortages by means of a separate transaction.
Deductions from wages

Deductions

An employer can lawfully withhold amounts from an employee’s wages only: (1) when required or empowered to do so by state or federal law, or (2) when a deduction is expressly authorized in writing by the employee to cover insurance premiums, benefit plan contributions or other deductions not amounting to a rebate on the employee’s wages, or (3) when a deduction to cover health, welfare, or pension contributions is expressly authorized by a wage or collective bargaining agreement. Labor Code Sections 221 and 224. Although a wage garnishment is a lawful deduction from wages under Labor Code section 224, an employer cannot discharge an employee because a garnishment of wages has been threatened or if the employee’s wages have been subjected to a garnishment for the payment of one judgment. Labor Code Section 2929(a) (See How to file a discrimination complaint)

The ability of an employer to deduct amounts from an employee’s wages due to a cash shortage, breakage, or loss of equipment is specifically regulated by the Industrial Welfare Commission Orders and limited by court decisions. (Kerr’s Catering v. Department of Industrial Relations (1962) 56 Cal.2d 319). In addition, there have been several court decisions that significantly restrict an employer’s ability to take an offset against an employee’s wages. Barnhill v. Sanders (1981) 125 Cal.App.3d 1, (Balloon payment on separation of employment to repay employee’s debt to employer is an unlawful deduction even where the employee authorized such payment in writing); CSEA v. State of California (1988) 198 Cal.App.3d 374 (Unlawful to deduct from current payroll for past salary advances that were in error); Hudgins v. Nieman Marcus (1995) 34 Cal.App.4th 1109 (Deductions for unidentified returns from commission sales unlawful.)

Some common payroll deductions often made by employers that are unlawful include:

1. Q. What can my employer lawfully deduct from my wages?


A. Under California law, an employer may lawfully deduct the following from an employee’s wages:
Deductions that are required of the employer by federal or state law, such as income taxes or garnishments.
Deductions expressly authorized in writing by the employee to cover insurance premiums, hospital or medical dues or other deductions not amounting to a rebate or deduction from the wage paid to the employee.
Deductions authorized by a collective bargaining or wage agreement, specifically to cover health and welfare or pension payments.

There is an exception to the foregoing contained in the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders that purports to provide the employer the right to deduct from an employee’s wages for any cash shortage, breakage or loss of equipment if the employer can show that the shortage, breakage or loss is caused by a dishonest or willful act, or by the employee’s gross negligence. What this means is that a deduction may be legal if the employer proves that the loss resulted from the employee’s dishonesty, willfulness, or grossly negligent act. Under this regulation, a simple accusation does not give the employer the right to make the deduction. The DLSE has cautioned that use of this deduction contained in the IWC regulations may, in fact, not comply with the provisions of the California Labor Code and various California Court decisions. Furthermore, DLSE does not automatically assume that an employee was dishonest, acted willfully or was grossly negligent when an employer asserts such as a justification for making a deduction from an employee’s wages to cover a shortage, breakage, or loss to property or equipment.

Labor Code Section 224 clearly prohibits any deduction from an employee’s wages which is not either authorized by the employee in writing or permitted by law, and any employer who resorts to self-help does so at its own risk as an objective test is applied to determine whether the loss was due to dishonesty, willfulness, or a grossly negligent act. If your employer makes such a deduction and it is later determined that you were not guilty of a dishonest or willful act, or grossly negligent, you would be entitled to recover the amount of the wages withheld. Additionally, if you no longer work for the employer who made the deduction and it’s decided that the deduction was wrongful, you may also be able to recover the waiting time penalty pursuant to Labor Code Section 203.


6. Q. What can I do if my employer makes an illegal deduction from my paycheck?


A. You can either file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (the Labor Commissioner's Office), or file a lawsuit in court against your employer to recover the lost wages. Additionally, if you no longer work for this employer, you can make a claim for the waiting time penalty pursuant to Labor Code Section 203.


. Q. What can I do if I prevail at the hearing and the employer doesn’t pay or appeal the Order, Decision, or Award?


A. When the Order, Decision, or Award (ODA) is in the employee's favor and there is no appeal, and the employer does not pay the ODA, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) will have the court enter the ODA as a judgment against the employer. This judgment has the same force and effect as any other money judgment entered by the court. Consequently, you may either try to collect the judgment yourself or you can assign it to DLSE.


. Q. What can I do if my employer retaliates against me because I objected to a deduction from my wages?


A. If your employer discriminates or retaliates against you in any manner whatsoever, for example, he discharges you because you object to what you believe to be an illegal deduction, or because you file a claim or threaten to file a claim with the Labor Commissioner, you can file a discrimination/retaliation complaint with the Labor Commissioner’s Office. In the alternative, you can file a lawsuit in court against your employer.