Can a company withhold an employee’s PTO and paycheck for expenses already approved?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can a company withhold an employee’s PTO and paycheck for expenses already approved?
My brother-in-law was recently fired for what the company said was gross negligence. Each month he submitted an expense report and his manager was responsible of reviewing and then approving all expenses. At year end they did an audit and now say some of the expenses were not valid. They fired him and withheld is PTO and last paycheck. Since his manager was responsible for approving expenses and he did for every expense report submitted can they now hold back his paycheck and PTO?
Asked on February 21, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Indiana
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
An employer is not allowed to withhold employee pay, even final pay, because the employer believes the employee owes it money. Rather, its recourse if it believes it was owed money would be to sue the employee for the money. Similarly, an employee whose pay was wrongfully withheld could sue the employer for the money. Depending on how much is owed, suing in small claims court on a pro se (asown attorney) basis is often a fast, inexpensive option.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.