My question involves employment and labor law for the state of: Texas.
My boyfriend works at a company through a temp agency. He has been there since May of this year. He had been making $15/hr on a student "apprentice" program, which seemed higher than other regular temp employees' pays ($11-12/hr), from what he could tell. There was another girl in the same situation, also making $15/hr. They both (separately) asked the temp agency if their pay was correct, as it seemed high. The temp service said that they were receiving the right compensation. They are paid weekly, if it matters.
Earlier today, he listened to a voicemail left from the temp service that said that he has been overpaid since he started. He was only supposed to be making $11/hr, and that they were decreasing his pay to that. They also plan on docking his pay to repay what he had been overpaid. To our calculations, that's ~$2600! Texas minimum wage is $7.25 (if it matters for anything). The other girl no longer works there, so he does not know about her situation, or if they have even spoken to her. He won't find out more information until Monday after the weekend.
He is paid by direct deposit, which states that they can take money out in case of error (what he signed when signing up). Is this one of those situations? For now, he has emptied his account. I think he should close it to prevent possible overdrafts from them. Is this a good idea?
Can this be legal of them even after he brought it to their attention when he asked if his pay was correct? What type of company does not notice something like this for over 4 months? He also does not remember signing any paper stating what his pay would be, so who is to say that they were "overpaying" him? Could this have just been a miscommunication between the company and the temp service and one of them just needs to eat this? He certainly does not have the lump sum to pay back, but even paying a penny seems wrong and shady!
What does anyone think? Or any questions about something I maybe missed?
Thanks for the help!!

