Cashiers-short till ?

[shaylyn]

If your till is short, do you have to pay out of your paycheck to make up the difference?

DD19 has worked at a franchised teen girls clothing store in the mall for a year now stocking and running the fitting room. They just started training her as a cashier. She has never wanted to be a cashier because of the way the owner treats the girls if they are short (yelling, humiliating them, asking for cash on the spot from their purse).

The only place I cashiered was at Target as a teen, and we never even knew if our till was short!

Just curious if this is the norm, requiring that you pay out of pocket if the till is short?

 

[Michelle67]

I'm in your area. Anyplace I have ever cashiered, a certain amount over or under was always considered "normal" and didn't get any reaction other than perhaps "you're off, you need to make sure you are making change properly." Consistent or larger discrepancies have been possible grounds for termination.

However, your daughter needs to print this up and give it to the store owner/manager. What she is doing is illegal under Washington State law:

The following are examples of situations when deductions are not allowed from the employee's wages during an on-going employment relationship:

Example 1. Customer's bad check or credit card: The amount of a customer's check that is returned for nonsufficient funds when an employee accepts a check in violation of established policies, or if an employee accepts a customer's bad credit card in violation of established policies.

Example 2. Shortage from cash register: The amount of a till shortage even when an employee participates in cash accounting at the beginning and end of their shift, has sole access to the cash register, and is short at the end of the shift.

Example 3. Customer walks out without paying: An unpaid bill when a customer leaves the restaurant without paying even when an employee is not watching their customers at a restaurant and ignores the fact the customers are finished dining and are ready for their check.

Example 4. Damage or loss: The cost for replacing broken glasses when the employee drops a tray of glasses when unloading the dishwasher.

[Statutory Authority: Chapters 49.12, 49.46, 49.48, 49.52 RCW, and RCW 43.22.270. 05-24-019, § 296-126-028, filed 11/29/05, effective 1/1/06.]

eta: actually I guess she is skirting the law because she is asking for it from their purses instead of deducting it from wages. It is still not allowed, though. Your daughter can say no. Of course, this is an at-will state, so she can also get fired without "cause," and the owner may decide to fire her for not paying and doesn't have to justify herself. Honestly, I think I'd just find another job.

 

[LBIJim]

If your till is short, do you have to pay out of your paycheck to make up the difference?

DD19 has worked at a franchised teen girls clothing store in the mall for a year now stocking and running the fitting room. They just started training her as a cashier. She has never wanted to be a cashier because of the way the owner treats the girls if they are short (yelling, humiliating them, asking for cash on the spot from their purse).

The only place I cashiered was at Target as a teen, and we never even knew if our till was short!

Just curious if this is the norm, requiring that you pay out of pocket if the till is short?

Depending on your state, it may be illegal for a manager or owner to require cashiers to make up shortages in their tills. They can, however, terminate employees for cash shortages.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I worked as a manager and the cashiers always had to balance their drawers. If they were short more than 5 dollars they needed to give an explanation. You can not ask to be reimbursed or take it from a paycheck. They can be wrote up if they are continually being short. If the problem persisted they could be terminated. Is the managment humiliating her in front of other co wokers? She should talk to HR as this is improper to do to the employee.

 

[cornflake]

Making them give him the money out of their bags? I do believe that's on the illegal side of the fence in all 50 states. Report him to corporate or the local DAs office or something. Not cool.

 

[Becky2005]

They changed the way they do the accounting of our registers so I have no clue if I have ever been over/under (HEY...if the till is OVER does the manager hand the cashier the overage? since they are requiring them to pay right there & then if it's short?).

I have worked many, many retail jobs handling cash and basically none of them have ever told me if I was over/under.

I wouldn't want to be a cashier in that store either.

 

[bumbershoot]

They certainly could fire her about it.


I was mysteriously let go from a tiny coffee kiosk, and while I was never given an explanation, I believe it was because of a shortage. Problem was...the day I remember having a shortage was when I was VERY new, being trained by a woman who was about to leave and was being forced to stay to train me, and she did NOT run the register "query" where you get the total in the middle of a day, nor did she count the money, so I took over with a completely unknown amount in the till.

I wasn't there long at all, and IMO the timing worked out for them to figure it out, think I had done it, and decide to get rid of me.


So they might not be able to make you pay for it...but they don't have to keep you on.

 

[happygirl]

I know as a server if we had a table walk out without paying we were responsible for that.

 

[cornflake]

I know as a server if we had a table walk out without paying we were responsible for that.

I believe that too is completely illegal.

 

[Michelle67]

I know as a server if we had a table walk out without paying we were responsible for that.

I believe that too is completely illegal.

Definitely in Washington State, it's included in the RCW I quoted above.

 

[shaylyn]

Thanks for all of the info! We are in Oregon

The owner of this place is not from America and does not appear to care about the laws here. One time every-single-employee was forced to sign a paper being written up for a theft that had occured by a customer in the morning. Even employees who were NOT WORKING that day were told they had to sign agreeing they were responsible for the theft!

Her boss has done a lot of things that DD should have quit over. One time DD had a customer come to her and tell her that her boss was abusive and wanted to know who to report what she saw to! There is no HR to contact though, this is a small franchise operation.

This is her first job, and I think she's finally ready to move on

 

[Michelle67]

Sorry...after I posted I thought "oh yeah...PNW actually includes Oregon, and could even mean BC..."

Anyhow, illegal in Oregon too although your website is SO much harder to find things on!

Q. Can an employer deduct for till shortages and bad checks taken contrary to company policy?
A. No. Payroll deductions may not be taken for these purposes.

Just like WA it is worded "payroll deductions," but demanding payment out of pocket is just skirting the wording and still isn't allowed. However, just like Washington they can fire you for it instead. I was telling my daughter about this thread and she told me McDonald's used to do it too when she worked there in high school. Not legal, but I guess they figure young people don't know any better and won't report it.

Glad she's decided to move on. I hope she finds a more friendly working environment.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

I used to work at Walmart, many years ago as a cashier. No, no matter how much you were short they did not make the employee pay. One girl was short like $1700. Victim of a quick change artist... she didn't have to pay but she surely got chewed, oddly enough not fired. Back in the day, they gave you I think it was $5 over or under w/o saying anything at all to you.

 

[simba20]

Workign at B&N, I never had to pay. There was an expected amount that your till may be over/under due to the fact that we never counted money at the end of our shift, but used a scale that weighed the money and got a count from that. At the end of our shifts we were required to balnace out our tills, meanign bring them back to starting amount for the next cashier (each drawer started out with $125). When it was time for us to leave, our manager would come and pull you, do a register report, and you carried your drawer to the back to do a count and balance it. All overage money (money taken in from customers on your shift) was placed into an envelope and depositied into the safe.

And no worries about the scale being off to count our money. You entered what demonination you were counting and the scale would adjust. I had 4 dimes in the dime change cup once, and when I placed the cup on the scale it counted correctly. Never, was there ever an issue with the scale.

At B&N, it was policy, again that if you were over/under by a small amount <$1 it was to be expected. $1-$5 you were given a reprieve and told to watch your cash handling next time around (i.e. don't become distracted while counting change back). Anything over $5 and you got written up. I once forgot to include a roll of dimes in my count and got written up (I was off my exactly $5). First offense you were given a write up, second time a remediation plan, third time you were taken away from handling cash/doing register or if a pattern continued, then you would be fired.

But never were we ever required to pay.

Also, shortly before I left B&N, our managers decided to not pull tills after an individual shift, but to do it at the end of the day. So that meant that often, there would be two or three people on one drawer during the course of the day. At first many of us were worried about what would happen if at the end of the day if the drawer was off, however the managers had it worked to perfection. I know that I was never off (with the exception of that $5 that one time). The managers were suspecting someone of bad cash handling, so they would always put them on my drawer after my shift to see what they were doing.

Now, one day I'll tell you the story of the Head Cashier that was caught stealign money from not only the registers, but the safe. I warned my managers that he was not the right fot for the position, but it took a good 6 months after I left for him to get caught. And did he ever get caught, he was escorted out of the store by the police. And yes, I have annimosity towards him, because before he became HC he threw me under the bus to one of our old managers.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Forcing them to fork over any 'shortage'? First, that sounds like robbery; and what proof do the cashiers have that their tills are actually short? The owner's word? Who's monitoring the balancing?

Boy, this brings back memories. Over the last mm-mm years, I've had a variety of cash-related jobs: cashier, sure, but also cash office and shift supervisor in different stores. If my till was ever short (in a total of fifteen intermittent years), it was never enough that I was informed. Working in the cash office, we balanced the tills and, again, there were never any out of the ordinary discrepancies.

The only problem I had in ten years as shift supervisor at a pharmacy chain was during two consecutive reviews - when I was informed the registers were coming up short after my shift. Oddly, this hadn't started until a few months after another SS transferred in, and stopped after she quit. And that's the only time it happened - but I got blamed . Interestingly, store management changed not too long after that as well.

 

[PeterPan09]

I've never had to pay out of pocket but I knew that if I was over/short it could out my job in jeopardy.

The only job where I had an issue was PetSmart because we did not have our own drawer. I really disliked that because if someone else was messing up I didn't want the mgt to think it was me.

The single best way never to be over/short on a cash drawer is to count change back to the customer before you put their cash away. I've had to teach so many people how to do that over the years. If the bill is $17.85 and the customer gives you a $20, place it where they can see it and get their $2.15 in change and count it back-"and 15 cents makes 18, 19 and 20". You know you're right, and the customer also knows that they got the right change. Keeping the payment where the customer can see it also keeps you from getting scammed. They can't tell you they gave you a $50 if that $20 bill has been in plain sight the whole time.

 

[Rafiki31]

I believe that too is completely illegal.

It is. A girl I went to college with chased some "dine and ditch" kids out to the parking lot because her place of employment had been making the waitresses pay for it out of their 2 bucks an hour. The kids had a large bill and she couldnt afford to pay it. Anyway, the teen ran her over and amidst the police investigation and lawsuit that followed they discovered the owner of the resteraunt had been doing this for years and it was, infact, illegal. This was in Massachusetts.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The single best way never to be over/short on a cash drawer is to count change back to the customer before you put their cash away. I've had to teach so many people how to do that over the years. If the bill is $17.85 and the customer gives you a $20, place it where they can see it and get their $2.15 in change and count it back-"and 15 cents makes 18, 19 and 20".

OMG! do you realize almost nobody does this any more? I truly haven't noticed if they leave my payment visible, but in the last two years, one cashier has counted my change back. One. I was shocked. Usually, it's "Here's your change".

 

[PeterPan09]

OMG! do you realize almost nobody does this any more? I truly haven't noticed if they leave my payment visible, but in the last two years, one cashier has counted my change back. One. I was shocked. Usually, it's "Here's your change".

I do know it, and that's why I try to teach it. I've taught it everywhere I've ever worked and I even showed a cashier who was helping me how to do it. (I did it nicely and she appreciated it-no lecture or anything) I cannot understand why stores don't teach it and demand it be used because it reduces the whole over/short thing. Sure, a mistake can still be made if you're going fast or the scammer is really good, but it's far less likely.

 

[RachaelA]

OMG! do you realize almost nobody does this any more? I truly haven't noticed if they leave my payment visible, but in the last two years, one cashier has counted my change back. One. I was shocked. Usually, it's "Here's your change".

I always did that for anyone getting more than $1 in change. When I was a supervisor, I stressed that to the employees on my shift. Makes it much easier to make sure your drawer is correct!