can an employer take money from your wages to cover till shortfall

bigbaddog

Hi
I wonder if anyone can help.
My daughter works at a pub and recently the till has been down when the manager has cashed up. This time it was £30 short and at the meeting they held for the 3 staff, they said they are going to take £10 of each wage. Is this legal?
I know theft is certainly not but by the same token, my daughter certainly did not steal any money! is it ok for the manager to punish them all? It sounds as illegal as the theft itself to me. Are there any legal eagles who can help us please?
Thanks

jdturk

if its written into her contract then its legal, if its not then no its not

allydowd

It's a bit more complicated than that:

Such deductions are only lawful if there is a specific term in the contract of employment permitting the employer to do so. You must also be given a written copy of that contract so that you know your liability in the event of till shortages.

Only then are deductions from wages lawful and and deductions must not exceed 10% of the gross pay.

jdturk

allydowd wrote: »

It's a bit more complicated than that:

Such deductions are only lawful if there is a specific term in the contract of employment permitting the employer to do so. You must also be given a written copy of that contract so that you know your liability in the event of till shortages.

Only then are deductions from wages lawful and and deductions must not exceed 10% of the gross pay.

better said than I could

bigbaddog

Thank you to jdturk and Allydowd.
As it happens, she has never been given a contract, when she is paid, the wage slip says self employed pay and she only works a couple of shifts and earns around £40 per week, she is a student.
Thanks agian, I shall do some more digging. xx

rupee99

bigbaddog wrote: »

Thank you to jdturk and Allydowd.
As it happens, she has never been given a contract, when she is paid, the wage slip says self employed pay and she only works a couple of shifts and earns around £40 per week, she is a student.
Thanks agian, I shall do some more digging. xx

From what you say it is clearly not legal, your daughter is not self-employed the employer is probably trying to evade National Insurance and PAYE obligations, possibly minimum wage regulations too if the figures are accurate..

In the circumstances she will have basic rights that include freedom from deductions that she has not specifically agreed.

However from a practical standpoint if she makes a fuss they will probably just sack her.

pinkshoes

Could she find a new job easily elsewhere?

If yes, then she should accept the £10 deduction, then report them to the tax people for paying employees cash in hand to skimp on paying tax.

MissRose

http:// www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Pay/DG_175878

This should give you the info you need.

the182guy

The boss sounds like a nasty piece of work. Phone HMRC and get their advice. I would start looking hard for a new job and quit as soon as I found one.