My sons girlfriend

[alponce]

She was stopped a wages payment last week because someone stole �70 out of the till.
there are upto 4 workers in the shop at any one time.
Is this a legal move by the employer, or not.
I am fuming because she lives with me and my wife and now i have to support her for the week.
She has never ever stolen anything from us she is a nice person.
Sorry if i sound angry but i am and i just found out.

[lajohn]

ohhh alponce you said she's nice. be kind and help her out for the week. god will reward you for it. you never know what a blessing she might turn out to be for you.

[treborrobert]

no they carnt do that !. you go down with her and demand a answer to why they stopt payment of wage ! . if they say because of stolen money .. just reply .... and how do we know you didnt take it !! after all you have stolen her money as in wage ! and ask them to phone the police....then watch there faces change !!!..... when you want them charged for deseption and slander

[buildersmate]

Since you put this in Law rather than Chatterback, presumably you were seeking a legal answer rather than mere empathy?
This would seem to be an illegal deduction of wages under the Employment Rights Act 1996 Part 3. There are more details here, but the mere quoting of this by your son's girlfriend to the employer should get the wind up them. Ask that it be repaid immediately.
http://www.emplaw.co.uk/researchfree-redirecto r.aspx?StartPage=data%2f09300402.htm

[bednobs]

did they also dock wages from other workers? Did they all have access to the till?
It seems a bit strange if they know it's her why just dock her money, why not just sack her for gross miscnduct?
if they dont know its her then why punish her?
Or is it a case of a customer leant over on took the cash and she didnt stop them?

[New Judge]

treborrobert is quite right.

However, hopefully I can sound a little less hysterical if I recommend that your son's girlfriend (not you) approaches her employer and quotes that they are not allowed to make unauthorised deductions from her pay, especially on the basis of unfounded allegations. buildersmate is spot on.

The threat of an approach from an employment solicitor (whose costs, of course, she will pass on to them) should do the trick.

From what you say, deception and/or slander have not taken place here and there is no need to threaten action on those bases.

[alponce]

Bednobs they all had access to the till THEY DONT KNOW ITS HER OR ANYBODY ELSE
she was 1 of 4 that had wages deducted hope that clears it up for you but thanks that give me thought though, as in who it might have been.
As in the owners boyfriend

[alponce]

Buildersmate she is far to shy to quote anything let alone legalities can i go there as her, lanlord, i guess is the term i would use, and do anything for her.?

[alponce]

need a response from buildersmate pls

[maclarencat]

You can speak to the employer as her representative. Though I would advise caution when doing this. Do not be agressive or threatening. Ultimately I think the best thing would be for all four people to approach the employer and the one who is most confident explain to the employer that it is illegal to deduct money from someones wages without their express permission and they require immediate payment. . This will have 2 effects. 1 is to show that the workforce is united and 2 Is to rule out the possibility of the employer discovering that there is a need for a redundancy for the person making the complaint (although not legal this happens)

[Ethel]

Assuming she works in retail the employer can deduct money to make up a deficit in either stock or till provided certain procedures are followed:

It must be in the contract that this will happen
The employer must give notice that the deduction will be made
It does not amount to more than 10% of the pay, although it can be taken from subsequent pay (eg �100 to be docked at �20 per month for 5 months).

See the bottom part of this link:
http://www.hodgehalsall.co.uk/node/66

[buildersmate]

Didn't know that - thanks Ethel.
Assuming there is nothing she has been given in writing (i.e. in a contract) to say that they can do this, my answer stands.
As to a teenager explaining it, how about something like: "When I mentioned to my boyfriend's Mum about my wages being docked, she thought it wasn't allowed. Something about there being a rule about illegal deductions from wages without my permission. Could you check please, Mr Employer. My Dad's got a friend who'se a solicitor so I've asked him to check. It doesn't seem very fair to me that you can do this, Mr Employer because it could be any of the staff or even someone else that did it'.

[alponce]

This is more confusing than i thought .
i would like to thankyou everyone for your input , i , will be looking into this very closely and the links provided are of very great use .
just want to thankyou all

[Ethel]

It is common practice in the retail trade - shops, bars, fast food outlets...