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U.S. Master™ Payroll Guide, 2008 Edition
Everything you need to know about payroll, from employers and their obligations, to payroll withholding and tax deposits, to payroll management and administration issues.

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Option to purchase shoes via pay deductions is permissible

A restaurant's requirement that its employees wear "dark-colored" shoes that are not open-toed and (for safety reasons) have a non-slip sole, and which the employees are free to wear outside of work, does not constitute a "uniform." Moreover, the employer's arrangement with a third-party vendor to provide an option for employees to purchase such footwear through payroll deductions is not an impermissible deduction from wages under Section 3(m) of the FLSA, an opinion letter from the acting Wage and Hour Administrator advises. Such an arrangement was permissible even if those voluntary deductions cause the employee's paycheck to fall below the minimum wage for each hour worked during that pay period, since the employer does not profit from the arrangement, and even if the employee from whose paychecks deductions are made is a "tipped" employee. ( W & H Opinion Letter No 2572, FLSA 2008-4, May 15, 2008.)

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