Employee owes company money Minnesota

[justfacts]

As an employer, if a employee owes me money (from using a company issued credit card & charging personal items to it) and he/she quits, do I have the legal right to withhold the amount owed from his/her paycheck? Even if that means his/her paycheck will be $0?

[DAW]

The deduction would be legal under federal law. No idea about MN law.

[Betty3]

My reference on Mn. paycheck deductions notes:

Employers are allowed to make paycheck deductions for claimed
indebtedness (including deductions for faulty workmanship, theft,
loss, etc.) if the employee voluntarily authorizes the withholding.
Exceptions include when a CBA overrides the statutory restrictions,
when rules are established for disciplining commissioned salespersons
for acts and omissions that override the restrictions, and when employees
make purchases and receive loans from the employer and authorize withholding.
Also, employers can enter into written contracts for deductions for such
purposes as union dues, charitable contributions, credit union deposits, etc.

You can always sue in small claims court (if the amount qualifies).

[DAW]

Just a thought, but the "if the employee voluntarily authorizes the withholding" rule that some states (including apparently MN) have is why many employers routinely will not issue company credit cards (and other assets) other then in exchange for a voluntary withholding agreement. As long as the employee is allowed to refuse the credit card, such an agreement is generally considered "voluntary". And smart employers will also put all of this in a policy and have the employee read and sign the policy at the time of hire. Waiting until after the employee terminates generally means that many of the employer's best options have previously wandered far away from the barn.

This is not a federal rule. The feds do not care about "voluntary". The feds care about minimum wage and whose "convenience" the deduction was for. Some states are "just like fed" and other states have their own rules. Which tend to be unrelated to other states rules.