decreased wage/ hours cut

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skyline4me

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I was recently employed by a company installing fuel management systems on city vehicles. My employer laid me off due to a shortage of work which was reasonable until i got my final paycheque. I got a letter with it stating that my wage was decreased from $20/hr to $15/hr. This was due to some damage done to some wiring harnesses that got drilled through and some other accidents which my employer had to pay for. There was a total of 10 employees all in my same position with the decreases ranging from $5/hr to $10/hr in some cases. Also there was another letter stating that too many hours were charged for the amount of work done so the employer decided to cut some full 8 hour days in half to 4 for the amount of work done. As i said before there were 10 others in my shoes with missing hours and decrease in wage. Is this legal? Some replies as to what we could do would be greatly appreciated.
 
This site is primarily for US Law. I don't think we have any regular responders here that are conversant in Canadian law, and they are very different.
 
According to this document-
http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WRR/WRR-ES-FI_esfs26.pdf

what your employer did was wrong. You may have signed off on something when you were hired that authorizes deductions in certain circumstances, but the circumstances you describe to not qualify.

While what your employer has done appears to be illegal, I did not find anything that states what the consequences would be.

In the US the law varies by state, but in general, you are due your wages for the hours you worked, and your employer would typically be on the hook for twice the amount of what they have withheld.

The easy solution is for you to confront your employer with the law and demand payment for the hours you actually worked. If you are met with resistance, proceed to an attorney who is familiar with employment laws and seek a legal remedy to really stick it to 'em.
 
Here you go. This is copied from Part 2, Division 1 of the Alberta Employment Standards Code. (I'm home on sick leave... I have nothing better to do!)

Deductions from earnings

12(1) An employer must not deduct, set off against or claim from the earnings of an employee any sum of money, unless allowed to do so by subsection (2).

(2) An employer may deduct from the earnings of an employee a sum of money that is

(a) permitted or required to be deducted by an enactment or a judgment or order of a court,

(b) authorized to be deducted by a collective agreement that is binding on the employee, or

(c) personally authorized in writing by the employee to be deducted.

(3) Despite an authorization in a collective agreement or a written authorization by an employee, an employer may not deduct from earnings a sum for

(a) faulty workmanship, or

(b) cash shortages or loss of property if an individual other than the employee had access to the cash or property.

1996 cE-10.3 s12

Notice required before earnings reduced

13(1) An employer must give each employee notice of a reduction of the employee's wage rate, overtime rate, vacation pay, general holiday pay or termination pay before the start of the employee's pay period in which the reduction is to take effect.

(2) If an employer does not comply with subsection (1), an employee is entitled to the difference between the employee's wage rate, overtime rate, vacation pay, general holiday pay or termination pay before the reduction and those rates and pay after the reduction from the time in the pay period in which the reduction was first applied to the end of that pay period.

1996 cE-10.3 s13
 
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