The IWC Wage Orders provide that, in lieu of posting a bond, an employee can agree to a deduction from their last paycheck to cover the cost of tools, uniforms or other items you furnished that they did not return to you.1 However, court decisions have made clear that employers cannot make deductions without proving theft or culpable negligence, even where the employee signed an agreement authorizing the deduction.2
1. IWC Wage Orders sec. 9(c)
2. Barnhill v. Robert Saunders & Co., 125 Cal. App. 3d 1 (1981); Kerr’s Catering Service v. Department of Industrial Relations, 57 Cal. 2d 319 (1962); DLSE Enforcement Policies and Interpretations Manual sec. 11.3.2
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