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I need advice quickly

DottieDottie 56 Posts
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We have an employee who no-called/no-showed for work this week. This employee has access keys to the building. When he was asked to return the keys, he said he lost them. He now wants to pick up his paycheck -- today is payday. It will cost us about $500 to re-key all of the locks for which he has keys. Do we have any leverage to hold his check? This property is in Indianapolis, IN.
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  • 5 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • RockieRockie 2,136 Posts
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    It depends on your state. Some states such as mine (South Carolina) strictly prohibit any garnishment of wages. So...you may be stuck with the rekeying cost In the future, you may want to have these type of employees sign for keys, agreeing in writing, that they will turn them in upon termination of employment or pay for replacement costs.

    But...you may be lucky. Your state may allow for you to recoup cost of company property without this type of authorization. Good luck!
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  • TheColTheCol 66 Posts
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    Nope. You're up against the Fair Labor Standards Act which mandates pay and overtime rules. You might come to a "negotiated" agreement such that "You lost these keys - bad person - how about writing us a check for $200?" You may not unilaterally withhold pay.
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  • Cheryl S SPHRCheryl S SPHR 238 Posts
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    I agree that it depends upon your state -- in SD, we have a law that allows withholding pay for the return of the employer's property. I also agree that you are obligated to pay for hours worked under federal law, but a state law such as they may gain you some time and leverage.

    You may want to call your state DOL for advice on your state labor laws or consult an employment law attorney.
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  • Laura_LLaura_L 11 Posts
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    We have our employees sign a payroll deduction agreement that authorizes a $100 deduction from wages in the event their system keys are lost or stolen. We keep the agreement on file and use it if someone bails on us without returning our keys. You'll never get this person to authorize a deduction but you may want to put a similar process in place for your existing staff.
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  • SystemSystem 5,885 Posts
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    Maybe you can take him to small claims court to recoup the cost.

    James Sokolowski
    Senior Editor
    M. Lee Smith Publishers
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