Required by Law – no authorization needed:
Authorized by Law – Employee Authorization Needed:
Any other deduction for a lawful purpose - examples:
Store inventory sold to employees on credit – treat this as a loan and get a written repayment agreement from the employee
Personal use of company equipment or accounts – if possible to do so in advance, treat this as a loan and get a written repayment agreement from the employee
Damage or losses caused by the employee1
Employee physicals and drug screens (minimum wage issue)1
Non-work-related training paid for by the company – treat this as a loan and get a written repayment agreement from the employee; the same applies to education loans and relocation expenses advanced to an employee
Employee's traffic tickets, bail, and court costs paid by the employer – before paying anything like this, the employer should get a written agreement from the employee to the effect that the payment is a loan or wage advance
1 See the discussions in "Deduction Problems under the Texas Payday Law" regarding restrictions on these types of deductions.
2 Written authorization recommended - see the discussion in the section of this article on "Deductions for Administrative Fees".