DEDUCTIONS FROM PAYROLL FOR GAS DRIVE OFFS
KAREN JO
1 Post
CAN I LEGALLY DEDUCT FROM AN EMPLOYEE'S PAYROLL FOR GAS DRIVE OFFS IF IT IS CONSIDERED THE SAME AS A CASH SHORTAGE. OUR TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT POLICY STATES THAT WE WILL PAYROLL DEDUCT ANY CASH SHORTAGS OF MORE THEN $2.00. I KNOW I CAN DEDUCT THE CASH SHORTAGES PER SC STATE LAW AND BY FEDERAL LAW AS LONG AS LONG AS THE DEDUCTIONS DO NOT PLACE THEM BELOW MINIUM WAGE, BUT CAN A TREAT A GAS DRIVE OFF THE SAME AS A CASH SHORTAGE????
Comments
On the other hand, the drives-offs are not caused by the clerk, but by the criminal activities of customers. So it doesn't seem quite as fair to take the $ out of their checks. As an alternative, you might want to look at adding new procedures to thwart the number of drive offs (like make people pay first, before pumping).
Good Luck!
As you know, most drive-offs are preventable, and many are actually perpetrated by or with the assistance of the cashier.
Drive-offs reduce the store manager's monthly bonus dollar-for-dollar, so the managers are pretty good about drive-off training. Our state (Missouri) also recently passed a law that provides for license suspension (one year) for any driver convicted of a drive-off.
If the clerk takes the proper steps, and this happens it really isn't their fault and shouldn't be shorted for it.
>If the clerk takes the proper steps, and this happens it really isn't
>their fault and shouldn't be shorted for it.
As I pointed out, if they follow the correct procedure, we don't take a deduction.
But if the drive-off isn't even discovered until the end of the shift, for example, then the cashier wasn't performing their job.
At our stores, a customer cannot get gas until the cashier activates the pump for that particular transaction. So no one can drive off without the cashier having seen them before they even started pumping gas. After you activate the pump, the control board shows an active transaction, and the amount, for that pump. That transaction stays on the board until you clear it, which you should only do after putting the money in the register.
That's why we're pretty confident when we say an unsubstatiated drive-off is either gross negligence or cashier dishonesty. Either way, they will be terminated if they have too many.
I'm very aware of the workload in a c-store. But I'm also very aware that we have employees who have not had a single drive-off in years. I also have cases where we've discovered a half-dozen drive-offs from one employee in a single shift. Drive-offs are not a random occurrence. I'll repeat, since I'm apparently not saying it well: In situations where a driver pulls up, gets fuel, and takes off without paying, the cashier simply has to follow procedure and they don't get dinged for the drive-off. The ones who get dinged are the ones who either cleared a transaction from the board without accepting payment, which is a violation of cash-handling procedures; or intentionally allowed someone to steal gas.
Our surveillance tapes are very detailed. The recorder actually imprints on the video a complete record of what's going on at the pump and what's going on at the register. If I can find the unpaid transaction, I can see which cashier authorized it, and which cashier cleared the transaction from the board. I can see if any money was exchanged.
This is an industry with severe labor shortages. Believe me, we can't afford to be unduly "harsh". Now, if you really want to talk problems, let's discuss cigarette shortages...
Eons ago when I worked retail I interviewed for a position as a c-store/gas station manager. When discussing salary with the interviewer I was told that shrinkage was deducted from the manager's pay. This include gas drive-offs as well as in store shrinkage. Is this common practice in the industry? If so, it's no wonder it's so hard to get good employees. Needless to say, when I was called back for a second interview - I declined.
>pay. This include gas drive-offs as well as in store shrinkage. Is
>this common practice in the industry?
As far as I know, it's universal in some form or another. In our case, it's deducted from the store's monthly bonus base. It's intended as a motivator, and for most managers, it works well. Almost all shrink is controllable, and we pay our people to control it. It's as simple as that. For example, we have a store in Columbia Missouri that averaged $3,000 a month in shrink for 2000. A new manager came in a year ago, and shrink in that store has averaged $275 a month for 2001. In March, when our pay adjustments go into effect, that manager will become our highest paid. The $30,000+ reduction in annual losses indicates that those losses were controllable. (Drive-offs in that store were running about $500 a month. It isn't uncommon for that store now to go an entire month without any.)
Also, in South Carolina, if someone is caught driving off without paying for gasoline, their drivers' licenses are subject to being taken which I think is the best thing to do. If, by chance, the cashier does assist in stealing gasoline, I would think this would become a criminal offense, the same as the perpetrator that received the stolen gas.
I think the best thing the gasoline industry did was implement using debit cards to pay at the pump. This has alleviated a lot of abuse, but I am sure there is still some. If individuals who are using cash are required to pay before pumping, I can't see how there would be much room for abuse. But...if the casher is in on the scam, then I could see where there would be a problem.
1. We only deduct for drive-offs that aren't handled correctly. I've said it several times.
Whether the drive-off is handled correctly or not IS within the cashier's control. We're asking them to call the cops and write a few things on a piece of paper. Some of you apparently think that's too much to ask.
We don't take deductions for things that are not within their control. Example: We had $400 in chicken that was ruined in one store last week. The girl who was cooking it was prepared to essentially work for free for the next two weeks. We checked all the possible causes, though, and found that it wasn't negligence or inattentiveness - it was a faulty timer on the fryer.
2. Drive-offs are one of the main ways a cashier steals from the company.
That's why we have a procedure to report and log them to begin with.
3. Do you think we HAVEN'T heard from attorneys?
I've sat down with 3 attorneys and 1 W&H investigator in the last two years. I've never heard from any of them since. In each case, once the attorney found out the actual facts of the situation, our reaction appeared to be reasonable.