Can an Employee Be Required to Provide His Own Tools
When can a California employee be required to provide his own tools for employment? The employer provides a tool allowance, but does not pay the employees twice the minimum wage.
Re: Can an Employee Be Required to Provide His Own Tools
Any employee who is paid not less than twice the minimum wage may be required to provide and maintain hand tools and equipment customarily required by the employee's trade. Exceptions may apply to apprenticeships that meet Division of Apprenticeship standards, and to employees of beauty salons and barbershops.
As this is not a situation in which the employee makes twice the minimum wage, assuming no other exception applies, then the law is as follows:
Quote:
Quoting California Labor Code, Sec. 2802. Obligations of Employer
(a) An employer shall indemnify his or her employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties, or of his or her obedience to the directions of the employer, even though unlawful, unless the employee, at the time of obeying the directions, believed them to be unlawful.
(b) All awards made by a court or by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for reimbursement of necessary expenditures under this section shall carry interest at the same rate as judgments in civil actions. Interest shall accrue from the date on which the employee incurred the necessary expenditure or loss.
(c) For purposes of this section, the term “necessary expenditures or losses” shall include all reasonable costs, including, but not limited to, attorney’s fees incurred by the employee enforcing the rights granted by this section.
(d) In addition to recovery of penalties under this section in a court action or proceedings pursuant to Section 98, the commissioner may issue a citation against an employer or other person acting on behalf of the employer who violates reimbursement obligations for an amount determined to be due to an employee under this section. The procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for citations or civil penalties issued by the commissioner shall be the same as those set forth in Section 1197.1. Amounts recovered pursuant to this section shall be paid to the affected employee.
Quote:
Quoting California Labor Code, Sec. 2804. Obligations of Employer
Any contract or agreement, express or implied, made by any employee to waive the benefits of this article or any part thereof, is null and void, and this article shall not deprive any employee or his personal representative of any right or remedy to which he is entitled under the laws of this State.
If the tool allowance is sufficient to cover the cost of tools, then the employer is meeting its obligations. If the tool allowance is not sufficient, the affected workers may consider filing wage claims. Employees interested in seeking additional compensation for tools should be certain to keep all of their receipts from tool purchases, over as long a period as possible, in order to document the inadequacy of the tool allowance.