Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Can an employer charge an employee more than the commission he was paid?

This is in the case of selling advertisement specialties. I sell pens and such with the customers name and address etc. custom imprinted on the item over the telephone

Later, another employee will call to verify that the order was indeed placed and then post the deal for me to get paid on. the following week I get paid.However, sometimes when a COD package is returned to us for whatever reason ...out of business, no money, etc.

The company charges me back the money paid to me. That's understandable. However, can the company charge me back another 10.00 per order? one year they were charging back 20.00, but an uproar was made by a disgruntled employee or 2 or 3, and the policy went to not charging anything. This lasted only a short time and lone behold it was back to 10.00 within a few months. It seems insignificant, however with an average or 2 per week x 10 years

it adds up.

There is also the question of whether the company is legally allowed to take back the original commission.after all the company has a seperate employee verifying the order. its not the sales reps fault if the customer renegs. Should that not be written off as a business loss?

1 Answer from Attorneys

Related Questions & Answers

More Labor and Employment Law questions and answers in California

Looking for something else?