restaurant walk-outs

aaabbbb

Just wondering if its legal for management to make restaurant waiting staff pay for any walkouts (staff gives customer bill, customer forgets/doesn't pay and leaves ) that might occur during their shift.

I know its fairly common practice. but just wondering if it's actually legal ?

Little CuChulainn

Is it in the contract?

rasper

couldn't be legal like deducting from Tesco workers any time a tube of toothpaste is stolen. the customer stole it not the unfortunate employee. are waiting staff also security guards

aaakev

Can't be legal surely....

Oryx

I know of garages who deduct staff wages when they have driveaways from the pumps. Similar scenario. Is this also illegal?

aaabbbb

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

Is it in the contract?

No contract (well not yet anyway) but thats another story....

Ken.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/pay_and_employment/pay_slip.html

Deductions from pay
The Payment of Wages Act 1991 refers to situations where either deductions are made from pay or the employee is required to make a payment to the employer.

The following deductions from your pay by your employer are allowed when:

They are required by law, for example, tax (PAYE) and social insurance (PRSI),
They are provided for in the contract of employment, for example occupational pension contributions.
They are made with your written consent, for example, trade union subscriptions
They are to recover an overpayment of wages or expenses
They are required by a court order, for example, an attachment of earnings order in a family law case
They arise due to your being on strike
Where your employer suffers loss through your fault, for example breakages or till shortages or your employer supplies a service as part of the job, for example, a uniform, deductions may be allowed. In these cases a deduction (or payment by the employee) is only allowed where:

It is allowed for in your contract
It is fair and reasonable
You have received a written notice of the deduction - a full week's notice if the deduction arises from your mistake
The amount of the deduction does not exceed the loss or cost of the service
The deduction takes place within 6 months of the loss/cost occurring
Failure to pay all or part of the wages due to an employee is considered an unlawful deduction and a complaint can be made under the Payment of Wages Act – see ‘How to apply’ below. Likewise, unpaid notice, holiday pay, bonus and commission payments can also form part of a claim under the Act.

doublej

An employer following the letter of the law would only be entitled to recover his loss and not his profit.

It is an area that is fraught with difficulties for employers as they may be required to actually prove that the loss to them was due to the actions of the employee .

For instance, a drive off on a forecourt can happen by a person filling fuel, getting into their car and driving away .This is different to a person coming into the store and being charged for only the paper or bar of chocolate that is placed on the counter by the driver and the policy of the store is to ask from each customer if they got fuel but the employee did not ask.
It's also different to the instance where a driver tells the staff member that they didn't get fuel or points to a different pump (one with a lower sale on it).
The circumstances relating to each loss require investigating and if warranted, the employer will advise the ployee that a deduction will be made to their due wages over x period until the loss is made good.
Losses from shoplifting would be extremely difficult to recoup even if the employee was engaged as a Security Guard let alone a cashier unless the loss took place due to a negligent act by the employee.
If the company has an onerous or an unworkable policy to prevent losses then they may not be able to rely on that policy even if it is "in the contract".
For instance, in a restaurant setting, a regular occurrence is for guests to served by a person but the bill is paid to a cashier.
If the waiter has neglected to write up all of the drinks that were ordered by the guests and leaves at the end of their shift telling another ( not the cashier) waiter about the outstanding rounds then who will the employer recover the loss from if the drinks don't get paid for?
To be honest, recovery of a genuine loss is acceptable but unless it is done with the full consent of the staff member and used sparingly and reasonably by the employer then it can lead to difficulties.
If a part time employee on NMW earning €100 for a weekend was culpable of allowing a drive off for €80 diesel it may be unreasonable for the employer to try to recover the loss in one go,

Bang_Bang

I walked out of a restaurant last year and forgot to pay the bill. I remembered when I got home, I called them and apologised and drove back up and paid the €85 I owed. To think this could have been deducted to from the employee is shocking, it wasn't her fault, it was mine, my kids were distracting me and I forgot about it. She was busy with various other tables at the time too. Was she meant to have eyes in the back of her head or something

nuac

Oryx wrote: »

I know of garages who deduct staff wages when they have driveaways from the pumps. Similar scenario. Is this also illegal?

Few garages employ forecourt staff, who would have certain control on fuel sales.

Unrealistic to expect counter staff working inside the shop to monitor who is getting fuel out at the pumps