Legal Question in Business Law in California

I do not know about restaurant uniforms specifically. What I can tell you is that your pay policies and deductions need to be explained to employees in advance. Before the employee begins work, they need to know their rate of pay, their hours (when possible), tip policies, paydays, and any deductions for things like union dues, uniforms, and so forth. It helps to have a written employee-policy manual. However, the main thing you need to avoid is changing anything retroactively or doing anything that affects an employee adversely between the time he or she does the work and the time the paycheck is delivered. Advance notice is the key.

You cannot charge for uniforms or a deposit.

If you require uniforms of the employee as a condition of employment, you must provide and usually maintain them, regardless of how much the employee is paid. You may not make deductions for normal wear and tear. Clothing which is standard in the industry and can be worn from one job to the next is not considered a uniform. You must pay for and maintain a uniform if it is not standard in the industry, even if it could be worn off the job as street apparel.

You can confirm this information by looking at the IWC WAge Order currently in effect for your industry.

In lieu of posting a bond, the IWC Wage Orders provide that an employee may agree to the deduction from his/ her last paycheck of the cost of uniforms that you supply but that are not returned. Pursuant to the California Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, however, you may not make deductions without showing theft or culpable negligence, even where the employee has signed an agreement authorizing the deduction. (Barnhill v. Robert Saunders & Co. (1981) 125 Cal.App.3d 1; Kerr's Catering Service v. Department of Industrial Relations (1962) 57 Cal2d 319.)