Q. We discovered that one of our employees has been leaving his scheduled shift for abouit one to two hours at a time, not punching out during that timeframe and returning to clock out at the end of his shift. We are going to terminate this employee. I was wondering if we have any recourse of trying to get money/wages back from him, since he technically was stealing from us? – Jenny, Minnesota
A. This sort of “wage theft” or “time card fraud” can be extremely corrosive to an organization, affecting not only productivity but co-worker morale. However, it is very difficult to recoup wages from employees once paid.
The short answer is that without a written agreement (which you are unlikely to get now), most states will not permit you to withhold the overpayment from a final paycheck.
You could take the position that he did not work those hours and therefore you are offsetting hours worked this week against moneys paid for time not worked last week. Even then, many state wage and hour laws discourage employer self-help and will protect the employee who protests that he did work those hours.
Most employers find that the best the way to recoup wage overpayments is to bring an action in small claims court, alleging that the wages were paid only because the employee defrauded the employer by submitting false time records. Depending upon the amount in controversy, this may be a viable option.
