These questions are being answered by Learn HR, a market leader in the provision of HR and payroll training and nationally-recognised professional qualifications.
Q: We issue uniform fleece jackets to our outside workers. These are good quality and very desirable, and as a result some employees fail to return them to us when they leave. Can we deduct the cost from their final wages?
A: You may only deduct the value from their final wages if you have their clear written permission to do so. For example you may make this a condition in their contract of employment or, perhaps, have them sign their permission for you to deduct the amount when you issue the jackets. Even so you should assess the value rather than the original cost. If the garments have a life of about two years and the employee leaves after one year, deduct half the cost.
If you do not have written permission, all you can realistically do is ask the employees politely for them to return the jacket. If they refuse you could take them to court and sue for the cost but that would be like taking a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. If you deduct the cost of the garment without written permission to do so, the employee is likely to take you to court for unlawful deduction from wages. You would then have to repay the money and be unable to recover it in any other way. I’d get a combined garment issue and permission-to-deduct form set up urgently!
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