I am a salaried non-exempt employee in CO, and I have taken an employee advance that has not been repaid completely yet. I am planning to leave the coompany and have given notice. My question is can my employer withhold the money for the balance of my advance from my last paycheck?

Was this a salary advance or an expense advance? What did you agree to when you took the advance? Why are you not prepared to repay it?

It is a salary advance and I agreed to repay it as soon as I could. My family has fallen on hard times and I am moving to another state. I need the money for the move. I am wondering if they can withold some of my last check or if I can just agree to repay it later. Thanks

If the employer didn't have you sign some type of agreement regarding the repayment upon termination, that was not very bright of them.

Again, what agreement was made when you got the advance? Have you asked the employer for a separate repayment agreement?

And are you exempt or nonexempt?

If you are looking for a law that dictates how this must be paid, there isn't one. No law guarantees you the right to pay it later; absent a written authorization from you the employer cannot legally withhold it from your check.

How it gets paid back is between you and your employer.

I am a non-exempt employee. I did not sign a repayment agreement at the time of the advance. I had no itention of leaving the company at the time of the advance but my situation has changed and now I must leave. I made one payment toward the advance but have not made another payment.

Co. wage deductions - one being: Employers can make deductions for loans, advances, goods, services, and equipment or property provided by the employer pursuant to a written agreement with the employee so long as such agreement is enforceable and not in violation of the law.

I think it depends on whether it's a loan or an advance on wages.

If it's a loan, all the stuff that has been mentioned applies. If it's an advance on wages, I think (but am not sure) an employer can deduct that advance to get the "net wages" owed on the last paycheck (since it's not really a deduction, and you didn't work those hours you were advanced)... Not sure how they make the distinction between a loan and a salary advance. Probably have to have a written agreement that this is an advance of money for hours to be worked, or something...

Here's the link to the Colorado law: http://www.coworkforce.com/lab/WageActFactSheet.pdf

And note this isn't Colorado, but in California the employer is forbidden from doing what you say (see question #4 in the link below), unless you have an agreement that specifically allows for it: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_deductions.htm

It's sort of an "employer beware" kind of thing when loaning an employee money in most states. See this for a general perspective: http://www.ewin.com/articles/faq.htm#Loans

So while it doesn't appear the employer can legally do so, they might still try (not uncommon). And I would advise you to try and repay the debt, because you don't want to burn that bridge. But if all you're asking is can the employer legally deduct the remainder of the balance, the answer appears to be no.

Note that it's my understanding that employers may still be able to sue you in court to force a repayment of the loan - that's separate from deducting wages.

California law is irrelevant in the other 49 states.

What's more, CA law is often quite different from the law in the other 49 states.

So quoting CA law for a CO question is pointless.

Gee, thanks for the tip, cbg. I guess you're right that courts in one state have never looked to interpretations or rulings in others when interpreting similarly written statutes in their own state. I've never heard of rhat happening. :rolleyes:

Yes, the FAQ in California is not legally binding anywhere but California. But the law in Colorado (which I also linked to) is similarly written to the law in California, so the fact that California has an additional explanation might be useful to the original poster in considering the issue. In fact, that's what the third link I included is all about - a general, non-state-specific guideline for employers when issuing loans to employees, based on common principles to "most" states.

So, imho, I think it's far from pointless to include additional information if you're just trying to gather information about the subject.

(PS. An example of my first paragraph is a recently ruling in New York about deducting expenses that lawyers are already considering using to bring similar law suits in other states)

Then let the legislatures look at other states and let attorneys look at cases in other states. But until then, the law in Colorado is what it is. Posting the California law does nothing but confuse the poster, since it has absolutely no bearing on the Colorado worker's issue.

Sarcasm is not pretty.