State Labour Inspectorate warns against arbitrary wage deductions

The State Labour Inspectorate (VDI) has issued a warning that employers cannot arbitrarily deduct funds from employees' wages. Situations such as damaged work tools, inventory shortages, or unreturned advances do not automatically grant an employer the right to reduce pay at their own discretion.

According to the Labour Code, deductions are only permitted under specific legal circumstances. These include recovering unused funds provided for specific purposes, correcting overpayments caused by arithmetic or calculation errors, or compensating for damages caused by an employee's fault. The VDI emphasizes that for damages, specific liability conditions must be established. For instance, automatically distributing a store's inventory shortage among employees without proving individual fault is considered an illegal practice.