Can my employer keep my commission due to the mistake of another employee?
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Can my employer keep my commission due to the mistake of another employee?
I work doing collections hourly and on
commission. Back in 2012 a current employee
made a mistake that cost the company to have
to payback their clients. Now my employer has
taken all of the current employees commission
to cover the lot back from 2012. I was not
working in the department at e time. Should
everyone be penalized for the mistake that
happened back in 2012? Can you please
advise me if any legal actions can be taken
against them
Asked on August 17, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
IF the policy which was in place (and made known to you) is that the comany could do this, it would be legal: essentially, any commission policy or arrangement is legal, if known to the employess and at least implicitly agreed to (by working with knowledge of a policy, you are held to have agreed to it.) However, if it was not the known and in-effect policy, they can't do this: a company cannot take commisisons which employees earned from them except as per the then-existing commission policy. You could potentially sue your employer for the money, under the theory of "breach of contract"--that is, violating the agreement (even if unwritten) pursuant to which you worked and earned the commissions. Of course, suing your employer is a drastic step; think carefully before doing this.
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