Can I have hours docked from my time clock as punishment?
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Can I have hours docked from my time clock as punishment?
I did a debris clean up job for work but had to rush
through it. The guy that hired us was unsatisfied and
complained. So as a punishment, I had hours taken off. I
was over 40 hours so the hours that were taken were time
and a half. I was not even notified. I learned about this
when I was calulating my hours and wage and saw they did
not add up at all.
Asked on April 27, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Arizona
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
No, the employer may NOT do this. The law is very clear that an employee must be paid for all work done, and that employee pay may not be reduced or docked or withheld except with employee consent or agreement. They could not take your money unless you agreed to let them do it, and you could try filing a complaint with the state department or labor or suing (such as in small claims court, as your own attorney or "pro se" so as to reduce costs) for the money.
Bear in mind, however, that your employer may punish you in a variety of ways if you did a poor job: you could be suspended, have hours or pay cut in the future (i.e. just not for work you have already done), or even be terminated. So your employer could do worse to you than they did--it's just they are not allowed to do the thing they did and take away pay for work already done.
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