Employee's Final Pay
I have been unable to get an answer from the State of Ohio on the following two issues�
Is an employer permitted to make a deduction from an employee�s final paycheck for company property that has not been returned to the company. Furthermore, this employee has not submitted her timecard for the partial last week that she worked. Do we pay her for what we have record of or what? We have tried to contact this person on several occasions but have yet to receive a return call.
Answers (1)
Ohio law limits deductions from an employee's final pay.
Check Ohio Revised Code section 4113.15 at:
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4113.15
It limits deductions from employee pay to those authorized by an employee in writing or where the employer has a "dispute of any wage claim including the assertion of a counterclaim" that accounts for the nonpayment. Failure to pay without deductions results in the penalties spelled out in 4113.15. It is not clear whether the employee's failure to return company property will give rise to a claim under 4113.15, so you need to proceed with caution.
As for records of hours worked, you should make your best record of the hours that she worked and pay her for them. Do not pay her only for those hours she recorded where you know she worked more hours, since the obligation to have accurate records is placed on the employer and not the employee. The fact that the employee is not cooperating will not excuse you from making a good faith payment for her actual hours worked, but it will probably help you if she goes to the Department of Labor and claims that you did not pay her for all of the hours that she worked.
Regards,
Neil.
posted by Neil Klingshirn | May 16, 2007 3:47 PM [EST]
Check Ohio Revised Code section 4113.15 at:
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4113.15
It limits deductions from employee pay to those authorized by an employee in writing or where the employer has a "dispute of any wage claim including the assertion of a counterclaim" that accounts for the nonpayment. Failure to pay without deductions results in the penalties spelled out in 4113.15. It is not clear whether the employee's failure to return company property will give rise to a claim under 4113.15, so you need to proceed with caution.
As for records of hours worked, you should make your best record of the hours that she worked and pay her for them. Do not pay her only for those hours she recorded where you know she worked more hours, since the obligation to have accurate records is placed on the employer and not the employee. The fact that the employee is not cooperating will not excuse you from making a good faith payment for her actual hours worked, but it will probably help you if she goes to the Department of Labor and claims that you did not pay her for all of the hours that she worked.
Regards,
Neil.
posted by Neil Klingshirn | May 16, 2007 3:47 PM [EST]
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