I was recently terminated from my employer (wrongfully in my opinion, but unfortunately not illegally). I was working for a jewelry store, and on of the incentives for managers was that they had a spending account which allowed them to make purchases and have payments for those purchases deducted out of their paycheck each pay period. I had a balance of $1300 at the time of my termination. My final paycheck consisted of the rest of my pay through my last day worked, 2 weeks vacation pay, minus the 1300 balance. Thanks to this website, I knew that they were required to pay me for the entire pay period, although my last day worked was in the middle of the week. They overnighted me a check for the remaining 20.5 hours. This all took place during the time of my last visit around 02/11. Yesterday, I received a check in the mail for my commission earned for the month of January, and in the check was the $1300 they had taken out of my paycheck for my purchases. I have 2 questions for you.

1. My suspension continued into the next pay period, does this mean that my last day worked was the last day of my suspension; therefore, they were required to pay me for the new pay period?

2. Is there some legal reason that they were not supposed to withhold the $1300 for my purchase balance? It seems very odd that they would send me the money that I clearly owe them.

Please advise

-Kristin

Was this a paid suspension or unpaid? Were you exempt or nonexempt?

This was an unpaid suspension. They listed my last day worked as the day before the suspension began. I was an exempt employee.

There is no law preventing them from backdating your date of termination until your last day of work.

Regarding the refunded deduction, they may have thought/realized that the deduction agreement you (assumedly) signed prohibited accelerating the deduction at termination; also that it brought you below minimum wage. You can just send them a personal check, since it appears that the amount is not in dispute.