Causes

• Cash overages and shortages may occur due to human error or, in some cases, employee theft. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) as well as state laws dictate whether and in what circumstances an employer may withhold shortages from an employee's wages.
  
  

Effects

• Under the Texas Payday Law (Texas Labor Code, Chapter 61), an employer cannot deduct shortages due to "ordinary cash register shortages, losses of money due to ordinary negligence and losses due to damage, destruction or loss of equipment," if doing so would reduce the employee's wages to less than minimum wage. In all cases, the employee must authorize such deductions in writing.
  
  

Warning

• The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) enforces the Texas Payday Law, and provides a claim process for employees to recover any unpaid wages. If the TWC finds that an employee's wages have been illegally withheld, it will attempt to collect those wages on the employee's behalf.