Simply Negligent Worker Needn’t Pay for Lost Item

Q: I’m a production manager at a company of about 500 people. I have learned that employees who lose their badges must pay the company $20 for a replacement.

Because the badge is company material, is it proper to charge the employee for losing it?

--S.V., Irvine

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A: An employer cannot make deductions from an employee’s wages for losses from the employee’s simple negligence. In most circumstances, losing one’s badge would be considered simple negligence.

From your question, it seems as if your employer is not specifically deducting the $20 from employees’ paychecks. Nonetheless, even requiring an employee to reimburse the company for the $20 would likely run afoul of California law, because it amounts to an offset from wages.

Of course, the employer may still discipline an employee who loses company property.

--Josephine Staton Tucker

Employment law attorney

Morrison & Foerster

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