Is fining an employee lawful?

Malthusian

andydownes123 wrote: »

I'm afraid it happens all over...possibly in the contract. I would say, why can't the feet be sent back for a refund? Distance selling laws (if you ordered over the internet) say that you can return with no excuse within 28 days for a full refund?

I'm not sure distance selling laws apply to business-to-business orders.

It's quite possible the employer will be refunded anyway (regardless of statutory rights), or can reuse the legs, but suggesting the OP should argue about the policy is essentially the same advice as post #4 - start looking for a better job.

Personally I would write it off. Due to tax the OP's mistake probably only costs him £37. It's annoying, and quite petty, but if the OP earns £75 commission from a sale like this, the loss of £37 should be trivial unless he is planning to make a lot of mistakes.

Brynsam

If the 'fine' isn't covered in the contract, then it is an unlawful deduction from wages.

nicechap

Businesses can't "fine" their employees, a fine is a punitive fee typically imposed by courts.

They can charge employees for breakages, errors, workwear, etc as long as it doesn't take them below NMW for the period.

Taking both the commission (£75) and the replacement costs (£56) would be wrong (as loss is only £56), but OP would need to balance up their employment record with retailer against willingness to resolve it (either by speaking to bosses themselves, raise grievance, via union, or small claims court).


B+, much better dilemma than of late.

bugslet

shortcrust wrote: »

I'm not saying the amount is petty, but occasional mistakes are an inevitable consequence of employing human beings. If this were a 'first offence' I think it would be appropriate for the employer to absorb the cost.

^^^ That and I say it as an employer.

Sunday night 10 pm and I get a phone call to say that a driver has put petrol in a truck in the Northern reaches of Sweden:eek:

Fortunately truck was OK, he'd driven a couple of miles but switched off as soon as it started making an odd noise. Cost me £900.00 to get a fitter out, drain it and the cost of several hundred litres of petrol.

I wasn't happy, but he's worked for me for four years and he's a really good employee working in a tough job, so I called him a wassock and left it at that. Full disclosure, he insisted on putting a payment on his card for that trip that came to within a couple of hundred of our total bill, but that was his choice, not our insistence.

[Deleted User]

Personally I'd be looking elsewhere for a job, we are all human and we make mistakes. Retail always has a bad reputation as employers and this shows why.

Cotta

I had a similar issue once within a retail shop when I was a student on NMW. A top up went wrong on the machine and it went through three times before on the final occasion printing the voucher off. I was deduced £30 from my wages (£10 for each of the vouchers). I asked if I could have the £10 o2 vouchers that didn't print off only to be told they were lost in the system.

ACG

Whats the betting you dont make the same mistake again? :P

I have no idea on the legalities of it. If they lost the order then I would say it is fair to lose the commission. If they have incurred a cost because of an avoidable mistake it is harsh but understandable as to why they are charging you.

As others have said, my understanding is that providing you are receiving NMW then you might struggle to get anything back.

On a side note, my initial comment was a joke but true. I remember when I was starting out as a broker 5-6 years ago. I made a mistake where I applied to a lender where the customers did not pass affordability, but it slipped through because of my mistake. It all came out in the wash and the clients were £400 down on a valuation fee. I offered to pay it (as it was my mistake). I have never made the same mistake again.

Takeaway_Addict

shortcrust wrote: »

I'm not saying the amount is petty, but occasional mistakes are an inevitable consequence of employing human beings. If this were a 'first offence' I think it would be appropriate for the employer to absorb the cost.

We seem to treat mistakes that involve objects with precise price tags very differently to mistakes that have more abstract costs. Order the wrong item and you pay for it. Make a mistake on a spreadsheet that takes all afternoon to find and fix and no one would dream of billing you for the wasted hours.



I'd certainly be keen to know what had happened to them. Returned to the supplier for a refund perhaps?

Bet the employee doesn't make the same mistake again...

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

I can make mistakes that could cost the companies I have worked for thousands upon thousands of pounds; albeit very difficult to quantify. It's absurd to even contemplate I would be charged for them. If I made enough, I'd be fired and that would be the end of it.

It always seems odd, and very wrong, to me that people whose mistakes are so minor get charged for them while for people who can make immense mistakes, it's not even a shadow of a possibility.

Madbags

andydownes123 wrote: »

My cousin worked at KFC, if the till was under at the end of your shift, it came out your wages.

Five euros goes to the first person who can guess what happened if the till was over?

I don't know how KFC operate but my first ever job was at McDonalds. You'd get in as much trouble if your till was over as much as if it was under. Money was never deducted from my wages if it was under, nor was it paid to me if it was over.

If it was over or under 3 times in a period (I can't remember how long a period was, this is going back 15 years now) then you'd get a warning.

In any case. I'd definitely want those feet if I had paid for them out of my wages.