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Peter T. Mavrick's Answers

Peter T. Mavrick
Fort Lauderdale Employment / Labor Attorney.
Contributor Level 6

1

Attorney answers:

  1. Peter T. Mavrick

Can an employer hold your last pay check? Is it legal?

Asked by a user in Florence, AL - almost 3 years ago.

Generally, under federal law, an employer cannot withhold a final paycheck. Federal law, i.e., the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), requires that an employee be paid a minimum wage. When the employer fails to pay any paycheck at all, the employer has failed to pay a wage for the final pay period. Failure to pay any wage at all means that the employer has failed to pay the minimum wage required by federal law. That is the basis for many minimum wage lawsuits. If the overtime wage...

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Attorney answers:

  1. Peter T. Mavrick

If an employee that is fired had an outstanding A/R, can the company legally take the remaining A/R out of their last check?

Asked by a user in Wichita Falls, TX - almost 3 years ago.

In general, if the employee owes money to the company when he or she is terminated, there are limits on what the company may lawfully deduct from the final paycheck. Generally, under federal law, i.e., the Fair Labor Standards Act, the employer must pay the minimum wage regardless of what debt the employee owes the employer. If the employee agreed to reimburse the employer by means of deduction from his or her paycheck, then the employer may make the deduction so long the final amount...

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