Dear Littler: We are a multi-state employer that allowed a large percentage of our employees to work remotely during the pandemic. To help facilitate the transition to home offices, we provided our remote workers with office equipment, cell phones, laptops, monitors—you name it. Some of these employees have now returned to the workplace as their primary office but have yet to return these items. We have the same problem with those who have quit. Can we deduct the cost of unreturned property from their paychecks?
—No Good Deed in Decatur
Dear Decatur,
We hear your frustration and you are certainly not alone. Employers had to adapt to a changing work environment in a short period of time and invested significant sums in the process. Trying to recoup that investment can be challenging as workers wandered to different cities, states, and even countries from their employer’s physical location. Employees may be enjoying having a full home office for the time they spend working at home or performing personal projects. Ex-employees might be reluctant to return company property out of spite, particularly if they left on bad terms. Or they just might not have gotten around to it, or not realized the items were not theirs to keep. While withholding a final paycheck or deducting the amount from a current employee’s pay might be tempting, there are significant restrictions on this approach depending on the jurisdiction. But that does not mean there is nothing you can do. First, we...
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