I was the assistant director at a Preschool. (Private School) We had a fundraiser in November. At the beginning of December I noticed all of the money, forms, everything were gone! I talked to the director about it and we looked everywhere. The director turned in her two week notice the day after the money went missing. I talked to the owners thinking they may possibly have picked it up with their things. (not stored securely) I was released from my job a week later after the money was missing for "loss of property" and "mismanagment of funds". They said they are going to take what is missing from the fundraiser (an unknown amount because it was never counted) out of my last paycheck. Nothing is being taken out of the previous directors paycheck. She was the one that talked to the fundraiser rep and signed the letter about the fundraiser. What legal action can I take? Can they take this money from my paycheck?

When and if they ACTUALLY take the money out of your final paycheck, you can file a complaint with the state DOL. Other than that, all you can do is file for unemployment and look for a new job. They can legally fire you because the money went missing while under your care.

Do you know what steps the DOL will take?

If you are asking me specifically what they will do, no, I don't. I don't know if they will phone your employer or write to them or specifically what steps in what order they will take. What I do know is that they will determine whether or not a wage and hour violation has occured and if so, they will order your employer to pay you what was illegally deducted.

It is also possible, this being GA, that they will tell you they cannot help you, in which case you can file a civil suit. But start with the DOL

Thank you so much for your help!! This has been quite a process and this has been helpful!

My understanding of taking money out of a paycheck is as follows:
The employer cannot take out any missing funds from your paycheck unless you have previously authorized him to do so in agreement (usually when you take the job, especially if you are handling money). If they do, they cannot reduce your check to less than minimum wage. Example: you make 8.00 per hour, money comes up missing, then he can reduce the difference down to 5.15 per hour, but cannot take more than the difference (2.85). Also, he or she if running a fine line between accusing you of steeling without proof!

Harvey, not quite. Whether or not an employer can deduct amounts from an employee's paycheck with or without the employee's written authorization is regulated by state law. Georgia state law does not have a provision for this situation. You are correct about not being able to reduce pay below minimum wage, however.

I do recognize that different states have different laws regarding what happens to a paycheck, and that is an area that I am not entirely clear on. This is what the Labor Board has informed me when questioned about an employee who is handling cash in Georgia. Thank you for the response, though! :). If that company policy states how missing cash is handled, then the Labor Board usually takes company policy as the rule as long as it is in compliance with the law.

There was no policy posted in the handbook.