Is this legal?

[FenigDurak]

Situation: On the 9th, my coworker, K, took an order for a gift basket full of snacks. It was supposed to be delivered on the 13th to a hospital employee for their birthday. The receipt with the original information was filed away at the end of the day and we had a delivery slip with "Dr. So and So" written in the recipient line.

The 13th rolls around and the weekend girl, L, tries to find Dr So and So. No dice. There is no phone number for the people who placed the order on the delivery slip. The basket sits until today when the owner of the store comes in to give me a lunch. K is away on family business, so I'm working doubles for the rest of the week so she can go (we just don't have the staff to cover absences).

The owner and I pull the original receipt, realize it's not Dr So and So, but Physical Therapist So and So, hence why he wasn't found on the 13th. The owner calls the phone number on the original receipt and tells them that it will be delivered and we won't be charging them for the basket either. So, the gift for Physical Therapist So and So is going to be free for the inconvenience.

The owner then mentioned to me that the cost of the basket and it's contents will be coming out of K's paycheck. Is this legal? I know that K made a mistake, and that the owner is getting really irritated with K's continued mistakes due to her laziness, but still.

So any advice on what I should do/say would be greatly appreciated.

[Estil]

Yes yes yes, oh GOD yes that is absoultely illegal. Or at least it is according to Kentucky state law. The employer is required to eat the cost of "shrink" unless the employee did it intentionally and/or with willful disregard (which would be very difficult to prove so they'd most likely be fired anyway).

[Andara Bledin]

I'm fairly certain that it isn't legal to dock pay for something like this.

If the owner tries it, I'd strongly suggest that K seek legal advice from a professional in the field.

^-.-^

[FenigDurak]

Should I say something to my boss? I like this job a lot and if K were to pursue legal action, they would likely have to shut down the store to pay for the repurcussions.

[ladodger34]

Should I say something to my boss? I like this job a lot and if K were to pursue legal action, they would likely have to shut down the store to pay for the repurcussions.

Perhaps you should say something along the lines of "Before anyone gets in trouble, maybe you should check with the state labor board."

[Andara Bledin]

I second that. You don't have to say for certain either way. Just let him know that you think it might not be legal and that he should check into it before anyone gets in trouble.

^-.-^

[JustADude]

Thirded, here. Remind him that it might be illegal, and suggest he find some other way to show K his displeasure if it is.

[Seshat]

It might not even be K's fault. The customer may have given the name as 'Dr So-and-so'.

Althought if the customer's phone number was on the original order but not the delivery slip, that is probably the fault of whoever transcribed it to the delivery slip (presumably K). And that would have made the original mistake more difficult to correct.

If 'So and so' was the full name of the recipient, why didn't L ask the hospital receptionist to look for any 'So and so' who worked at the hospital? Or is it your policy to consider the title a significant part of the name? That's another way the problem could have been remedied.

[SuperDan]

Definitely illegal. He can write up or even terminate K, but it is against federal law to require an employee to pay money to the store for theft or mistakes.

Advise K to call 1-866-4-USWAGE mon-fri 8-4.

[Rapscallion]

As a general rule of thumb, I've found that if you have to ask if something is illegal then it usually is.

Rapscallion

[scruff]

Dmmit. Anyone know if taking out shortages from a UK paycheck is illegal?
If so, I wish I'd known that when I was a trolleydolley.