Can you dock wages?

More companies are issuing corporate laptops and cell phones to their employees so that the employees can take advantage of flex time arrangements or work while traveling.

Sometimes employees do not return this company equipment, and employers dock their paychecks as reimbursement. But even the most sophisticated employers might not realize that under Pennsylvania law they are not allowed to deduct money from an employee's paycheck for nonreturn of these items without prior written authorization by the employee.

State law says that deductions other than those that are mandatory, such as the federal withholding tax, need to be authorized in advance by employees. Without a prior OK from employees for deductions for laptops, cell phones, uniforms and even medical benefits, an employer will find itself in violation of the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law.

It is not enough to have the employee sign a "blanket" authorization at the time of the employee's hire to cover any future deductions. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, employers are required to get written authorization from the employee for each nontax-related deduction.

There are other restrictions. For example, as a general rule deductions cannot reduce an employee's gross pay below minimum wage, and the deductions must benefit the employee to be valid.

-- Diana Leech,
Meyer Unkovic & Scott,
del@muslaw.com

Employers who don't offer health insurance find themselves at a disadvantage when competing for qualified employees against the 60 percent of all private-sector businesses that the Bureau of Labor Statistics says do offer health benefits of some sort.

The answer for employers who do not currently offer health insurance may be to offer a lower premium, high-deductible health insurance policy with a health savings account. A high-deductible plan is typically the least expensive health-care insurance option for a business, while the HSA enables employees to pay for their share of health care with pretax dollars, an option they are not likely to have if the company is not already offering health-care benefits.

Unlike a flexible spending account, a more established way to save tax-free for health-care expenses, employees don't have to spend what they put into an HSA by the end of the year, but can let it accumulate for future medical needs.

The high deductible-HSA combination has other benefits for employees:

• The employer or anyone else can contribute to an employee's HSA account.

• The account is portable, which means the employee keeps the account if he or she moves to another company.

• The employee has easy access to the funds, and with many plans may be able to pay for medical expenses using a debit card tied to the HAS.

For employers who do not already provide health-care benefits, the HSA-high-deductible combination is a relatively inexpensive and easy way to offer employees health-care coverage.

-- Stephanie Bernaciak-Massaro,
UnitedHealthcare,
svbernaciak@uhc.com