What are my rights as an employee regarding liability for a cash register shortage?

Cashier accountability

Now, the bills and change that were put off to the side get counted, along with the checks from the cashier's drawer. This is what makes up the cashier's sales deposit. Most cash registers can print up a sales slip and money tendering slip that tells how much money the cashier made in sales and how much money the cashier is accounted for. The manager refers to this slip when counting the cashier's sales money. If the money counted does not match what is on the balancing slip, the cashier may be over or short (in cash). Whenever a discrepancy such as overages or shortages occur, the money is usually counted again to ensure that the amount is correct. The over/short can always be calculated by subtracting the amount of money in the drawer (exclude the "starting amount") from the amount printed on the cashier tendering slip, or balancing slip. Depending on the amount of over/short and circumstances involved, disciplinary actions may vary. Cashiers have lost their jobs to cash overages/shortages, either for repeated violations or for large overages or shortages. In most establishments, termination on the first offense is usually for $100.00 over/short or more.Shortages usually result from bills sticking together or from the cashier giving back too much change, or maybe even "pocketing" some money from the register. Overages occur from taking too much money from customers or not entering items in the point of sale terminal properly.

Answer: If the employer has a policy in place about repayment of the shortage then you are required to pay it back, but such a practice could be illegal in your state. As such, contact your local labor department. Possibly you could be terminated for the shortage as well. Contact your local labor department.