Michigan questions

[miemployee]

I have two questions about a restaurant in MI.

Can your employer legally keep tips that a customer gave you and use them as store funds? There are cameras at the cash register to prove how much they get tipped and to make sure they aren't stealing any cash.

If you accidentally gave food away to the wrong person and they accepted it, can the employer charge the the employee to pay for it? To help clarify this it was a delivery driver who dropped food off at wrong address and was on a credit card and the kid signed for it. The customer who ordered it called and asked where food was. So since it was delivered to wrong house the order was remade and brought to correct house. Employee was charged for food costs of first delivery and never signed a waiver saying so. Also is known that another employee accidentally turned off part of a cooling system causing lots of food being thrown away and not charged.

[DAW]

There are always two answers for such a question, a federal law answer and a state law answer. I do not know MI specific law (if any) but I can give you the federal law (FLSA) answer. Such deductions are legal under federal law to the extent that MW/OT laws are not violated. These are examples of "for the benefit of the empoyer" types of deductions.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs16.pdf

[Betty3]

wage deductions Mi. -

Deductions from Wages

An employee must consent in writing each time an employer makes a deduction from his
or her wages if the deduction is for the benefit of the employer. These type of deductions
include:
- cash shortages
- breakage, damage, or loss of the employer's property
- required uniforms
- required tools
- other items necessary for employment

Although an employer can deduct the above-listed item with the written consent of an
employee, the employer cannot coerce or threaten the employee with discharge to obtain
the written consent.

An employer cannot withhold or deduct wages from an employees pay check, unless:
- required or permitted to do so by law,
- required or permitted by a collective bargaining agreement, or
- the employee has consented in writing, without coercion, to the deduction.

An employer may deduct an overpayment from an employee's pay check without written
consent, if:
- the overpayment resulted from a mathematical miscalculation, typographical error, clerical
error, or misprint in the processing of the employee's regularly scheduled wages or fringe
benefits,
- the miscalculation, error, or misprint was made by the employer, the employee, or a
representative of the employer or employee,
- he employer provides the employee with a written explanation of the deduction at least 1
pay period before the wage payment affected by the deduction is made,
- the deduction is not greater than 15% of the gross wages earned in the pay period in
which the deduction is made,
- the deduction is made after the employer has made all deductions expressly permitted or
required by law or a collective bargaining agreement, and after any employee-authorized
deduction, and
- the deduction does not reduce the regularly scheduled gross wages otherwise due the
employee to a rate that is less than the greater of either of the state minimum wage rate or
the federal minimum rate.
Michigan Laws 408:477

Uniforms, Tools, and Other Equipment Necessary for Employment
There is no law that prohibits an employer from requiring an employee to pay for a uniform,
tools, or other necessary times. An employer must obtain an employee's written consent to
deduct the costs from the employee's wages. Michigan Laws 408:477

Medical or Physical Exams, including Drug Tests, Required for Employment
Michigan does not have any laws prohibiting an employer from requiring an applicant or
employee to pay the cost of a medical examination or the cost of furnishing any records
required by the employer as a condition of employment.