Sometimes the hardest part of being a security integrator has nothing to do with keeping your clients satisfied. Unfortunately, many times it’s dealing with a “bad apple” on your team. But one recourse that apparently is not an option is to withhold an employee’s final paycheck, even if that person has allegedly “stolen” company equipment or damaged company property.

That’s the advice from the expert law firm Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum in response to a question from an integrator. The dealer recently had an employee quit with no notice. The person, who had been with the company for just eight weeks, departed with company-owned items that were assigned to him. He also smoked in one of the company’s non-smoking vehicles, requiring it to be professionally cleaned.

“I know there are specific laws that apply to payment of employees, but I am getting tired of short- or long-term employees either failing to return tools, parts, equipment, or partially destroying the nice vehicles that we provide them,” wrote the anonymous dealer.

Unfortunately, according to Judge Ruth Kraft, retired administrative law judge and legal expert at Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum, an integrator cannot withhold money from a person’s paycheck.

“You can’t withhold from the final paycheck whatsoever. That is called wage theft these days and it is a violation of state labor laws,” she says. “If he didn’t return expensive items assigned to him, such as a laptop, you could sue in small claims court and get a judgment which could be enforced against him.”

But what about charging back the employee? In some states, like Colorado, the employer has “10 calendar days to audit and adjust the accounts and property value of any items entrusted to the employee before the employee’s wages or compensation shall be paid.”

But just because you can, does not mean you should, according to Kraft. She says that charge back will surely likely trigger a report to the state labor authority.
“If an employer charges back, the employee can go into an administrative proceeding under the 2014 changes and raise all sorts of other wage/hour issues. An employer who thinks that taking the deductions is a home run would be foolish,” she says. “Additionally, there would have to be an underlying agreement between the parties as to consequences and you can bet that, under FLSA, these will be scrutinized for fairness, opportunity to negotiate in good faith, adhesion, etc.”

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