Safety Shoes

RYA in Buford

We want to require steel-toed boots for certain jobs in our plant. It is my understanding that a company cannot require that the employees buy shoes as a condition for keeping the job. A company cannot put a financial burden on an employee when it was originally not a pre-requisite for the position. Do we have to purchase the first round of safety shoes and then require that they maintain and purchase new ones when they wear out? Please advise.

Don D

Our program works well for us and doesn't put the onus on the employee to cough up the money for shoes. Our policy requires steel toe for all plant jobs (since they may transfer, we didn't limit it to just a few). The company will pay for the shoes to a maximum of $75 per pair and we allow one purchase under the plan per calendar year. If they, for example, choose $155 shoes, we take $80 out of their next check and absorb the remaining $75. We have a different truck come to each plant once per quarter. These are rolling stores and they are chomping at the bit to come to any place of business. We have a data field in the computer that shows the employees who have purchased shoes this calendar year. Each time a shoe truck bumps the dock, we provide the driver with the list. The list shows those who have already purchased shoes, meaning they cannot make another payroll deduction purchase until next year. If they want to buy them outright, that's up to them. We also will allow the employee to purchase shoes at other outlets in town and bring us the receipt. In this case, we will reimburse them up to the $75 on their next check. Several down sides we have discovered, that are impossible to counter: The employee who buys shoes off the truck under the program and quits the next day with shoes in hand. And, The employee who buys boots at Wal Mart, gets reimbursed, then returns them to Wal Mart. He has our reimbursement and his own money back. But, hey, he's wearing old shoes, and that ain't cool.

sonny

Our program runs identical to Don's with the exception that our limit is $50.00. It has worked for us as well.