Salon - employer taking it out of my wages for a mistake.

ronanbaker1

Could anyone help.

I split hair colour on a clients jeans. She came into the salon were my boss took it out of the till and give her 40e. This never happens but now he says it is coming out of my next wage.

This this fair or legal?

Thanks

outnumbered82

He can't do it. Did they try to get them cleaned or show a receipt claiming they were 40€.

Is anything in your contract saying mistakes must be paid for?

Eoin

Check out this page:

Where your employer suffers loss through your fault, for example breakages or till shortages or your employer supplies a service as part of the job, for example, a uniform, deductions may be allowed. In these cases a deduction (or payment by the employee) is only allowed where:

It is allowed for in your contract
It is fair and reasonable
You have received a written notice of the deduction - a full week's notice if the deduction arises from your mistake
The amount of the deduction does not exceed the loss or cost of the service
The deduction takes place within 6 months of the loss/cost occurring

Failure to pay all or part of the wages due to an employee is considered an unlawful deduction and a complaint can be made under the Payment of Wages Act – see ‘How to apply’ below. Likewise, unpaid notice, holiday pay, bonus and commission payments can also form part of a claim under the Act.

tatli_lokma

outnumbered82 wrote: »

He can't do it. Did they try to get them cleaned or show a receipt claiming they were 40€.

yes he can, provided he meets the requirements Eoin has listed.

In fairness, OP did get colour on a clients clothes. Depending on the type of colour dry cleaning won't help. And it would not be unreasonable to expect some sort of 'compensation' rather than just pay for a dry cleaning bill.

OP, why didn't you do something about it when the accident occurred? why did they need to come back when the boss was there? Doesn't sound like it was handled very well at the time of the accident if the customer had to come back later to complain.

Mrs OBumble

My mind is boggling at the thought of what part of the client's hair you were colouring to be getting colour anywhere near near his/her jeans!

ronanbaker1

More than likely it happened from a very little spill that touched the jeans then maybe something from a cross of the legs would have snugged it. The client did not complain at the start because no one noticed it. The client does wear a drape but somehow must of touched her leg. I will check my contract. Thanks

gordongekko

If my boss took money off me like that I would be pissed. Surely a warning would be enough. I certainly think you should chat to him/her about it. Maybe you should object to doing that particular job anymore.

tatli_lokma

gordongekko wrote: »

If my boss took money off me like that I would be pissed. Surely a warning would be enough. I certainly think you should chat to him/her about it. Maybe you should object to doing that particular job anymore.

did you not read Eoin's post? An employer is within their rights to recoup losses incurred by the employee (provided they have a clause to this effect in the contract and have given notice etc).

Of course you would be pissed to loose out on wages, but the employer I am sure is pissed at having to hand over €40 for a careless mistake.

And it's not very reasonable to expect a hairdresser to refuse to do colours??? that is just daft to suggest.

I must say, I have had my hair coloured umpteen times over the last 20 years, I have had it done at home by a hairdresser, by a junior, and never once have I ended up with colour on my legs. I can't even imagine it happening unless you were being a bit careless. I have had it on collars or a sleeve, where you accidentally brush off your hair, but never have I had even a junior drop colour on my legs. Strange to say the least!

mitosis

Little Ted wrote: »

did you not read Eoin's post? An employer is within their rights to recoup never once have I ended up with colour on my legs. I can't even imagine it happening unless you were being a bit careless. I have had it on collars or a sleeve, where you accidentally brush off your hair, but never have I had even a junior drop colour on my legs. Strange to say the least!

Maybe it was a "collar and cuffs" dye job :pac:

gordongekko

Little Ted wrote: »

did you not read Eoin's post? An employer is within their rights to recoup losses incurred by the employee (provided they have a clause to this effect in the contract and have given notice etc).

Of course you would be pissed to loose out on wages, but the employer I am sure is pissed at having to hand over €40 for a careless mistake.

And it's not very reasonable to expect a hairdresser to refuse to do colours??? that is just daft to suggest.

I must say, I have had my hair coloured umpteen times over the last 20 years, I have had it done at home by a hairdresser, by a junior, and never once have I ended up with colour on my legs. I can't even imagine it happening unless you were being a bit careless. I have had it on collars or a sleeve, where you accidentally brush off your hair, but never have I had even a junior drop colour on my legs. Strange to say the least!

For argument sake lets say they have done 1000 colours over the period in employment and this has happened this one time. Surely any reasonable boss would realise it was just a mistake and not done on purpose. A warning about the issue would be plenty. Nobody is perfect and mistakes happen. I'm sure they have more than made the €40 on the labour of this person over the period of time they are working there. Its hardly worth ruining moral for €40

Sulla Felix

I don't think it's reasonable if the boss just accepted the customers stated price. I'd be looking to check the price with the store at least before handing over cash if they didn't have a receipt.