BackPay Deduction

Hi! I wanted to seek advise with my situation:

I formally resigned late April 2016 at my previous employer for personal reasons. Upon my last day, HR informed me that I can get my backpay 2-3 weeks from then. The coverage of my backpay will be my supposed 13th-month-pay and the rest of what I was supposed to earn from the latest cut-off.

So 3 weeks had passed and my backpay was still with them because HR advised me that I had to wait for the boss to come in. I had to wait an additional 2-3 weeks (if memory serves me right) since the boss wasn't around.

And just today, after several follow-ups, HR texted me that there was an advise from one of the managers that my pay should have a deduction.

During my stay, I was advised by the boss to avail of this equipment for a store. So I followed instruction. The item came in when I was already resigned and no longer with the company. Apparently I found out that they are no longer interested with the item and therefore returned it to the supplier, which lead to the supplier asking for a refund fee.

Now, the advise from one of the managers was to deduct the refund fee from my backpay.

I wanted to get some insights as to what I should do. I personally think that it should no longer be deducted from my pay because it was their instruction to avail of the item and the decline was made when I was no longer part of the company.

I'm hoping for your legal insights on this.

Thanks.

Your being part of the company should not be a factor in this transaction. The main question is, was there any negligence in your part regarding this transaction? According to what you posted, it was your boss that advised you to procure this item. If it was that straightforward, i would be inclined to say that you have no responsibility regarding the refund fee and it should not be deducted from your final pay.

How much is the deduction? Is it worth filing a complaint over it? They MIGHT not release your final pay until you resolve this if you file a complaint

lukekyle wrote:Your being part of the company should not be a factor in this transaction.  The main question is, was there any negligence in your part regarding this transaction? According to what you posted, it was your boss that advised you to procure this item.  If it was that straightforward,  i would be inclined to say that you have no responsibility regarding the refund fee and it should not be deducted from your final pay.

How much is the deduction?  Is it worth filing a complaint over it?  They MIGHT not release your final pay until you resolve this if you file a complaint

Hi!

I feel that I did not do anything wrong while I was still there. So before I made the transaction, I made sure that the item is approved by the management. I presented to them the item details, price, etc., and they gave me a go signal to avail the item after they checked.

They did not give me the amount of the deduction yet. They told me that when the item arrived, they thought that the item did not meet their standards. I immediately thought, how come you allowed the purchase if it did not meet your standards in the first place? And why should I be deducted when in fact, the return was made when I was no longer involved.

I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to file a complaint. If I do so, what should I do?

im not entirely clear on what you're asking

lukekyle wrote:im not entirely clear on what you're asking

What I meant to ask was what should I do?

About what? please be more specific

lukekyle wrote:About what? please be more specific

Should I file a complaint?

Depends on how much the deduction is. You have to factor in that you have to appear several times sa NLRC. I would advise you against signing a quitclaim if you plan on filing a complaint as this might be held against you.

For example backpay = P20,000.00 deduction = P2,000.00. You have to realize that yung buong P20,000.00 might be placed on hold while the nlrc is hearing out your complaint, this will take at least 2 weeks to 2 months before may first conciliation meeting na. If hindi sumipot ang employer it will usually be postponed for another 2 weeks or one month. Some employers would just pay you the contested amount once they receive the notice of your complaint. Some will drag it out as long as they can. All this time you will be spending time, transpo costs etc. You will have to go there at least twice (if your lucky). Once to file the complaint and another time for the meeting. So if its a small amount i would advise you to just let it go, but its something you can't earn in 2 months then it will be worth it to file a complaint.

Just wait for the deduction since hindi pa naman sinsabi sayo. Hopefully its just a small amount

lukekyle wrote:Depends on how much the deduction is.  You have to factor in that you have to appear several times sa NLRC.  I would advise you against signing a quitclaim if you plan on filing a complaint as this might be held against you.

For example backpay = P20,000.00 deduction = P2,000.00.  You have to realize that yung buong P20,000.00 might be placed on hold while the nlrc is hearing out your complaint, this will take at least 2 weeks to 2 months before may first conciliation meeting na.  If hindi sumipot ang employer it will usually be postponed for another 2 weeks or one month.  Some employers would just pay you the contested amount once they receive the notice of your complaint.  Some will drag it out as long as they can.  All this time you will be spending time, transpo costs etc.   You will have to go there at least twice (if your lucky).  Once to file the complaint and another time for the meeting.  So if its a small amount i would advise you to just let it go, but its something you can't earn in 2 months then it will be worth it to file a complaint.

lukekyle wrote:Just wait for the deduction since hindi pa naman sinsabi sayo.  Hopefully its just a small amount

Okay, noted on this. I have to check pa as to how much will I get and how much is the deduction before I do any action. And yes, if I'm planning to file a complaint, I will not sign their quit claim. As far as I know, they ask those who claim their backpay to sign their quit claim.

Thanks for your insight, Sir!