Employers must pay for all losses that their employees cause or incur in the scope of carrying out job duties. As a result, employers must buy employees’ all necessary items for performance such as office supplies and equipment, and cannot charge employees for breaking, damaging, or losing the employers’ property while working. This only applies to accidents and mistakes, not any willful destruction or loss of an employer’s property. Examples range from small amounts of money missing from the cash register or broken dishes to destroyed computers and crashed company vehicles.
Further, it is unlawful in California for employers to make any deductions from employees’ paychecks to cover these losses which employers must cover.