Can Your Employer Garnish Your Wages for a Company Phone Bill?

Workers commonly use their employer's phone at work for various reasons. Some employees may be required to use the phone to conduct business, while others may be allowed to use the phone for personal business, or for a combination of the two. While employment law varies between states, employers are generally not allowed to charge an employee for the use of the phone unless specified in the employee's contract. This would preclude the garnishment of wages for said charges.

Employment Law

The conduct of employers and employees is governed by employment law. While some federal laws regulate the conduct of employers, states have a large amount of discretion in making workplace laws. In all states, employers are allowed to set their own rules for employee use of the phone. However, employers generally cannot charge employees for phone use unless this policy has been made known beforehand.

Company Debts

If an employer had a contract in which an employee could use the phone for personal business but was required to pay for this use, the employer would be allowed to bill the employee. However, if an employee is using a phone for company business, the employer is, in most states, not allowed to bill the employee. This is true even if the employee misuses the phone, such as by making too many calls.

Garnishment

The garnishment of an employee's wages can occur only if an employer has received the permission of a judge to do so. This will only happen if the employer sues the employee in court and wins the case. An employer cannot garnish wages extrajudicially, even from his own employees. This is a violation of federal law. However, the employer may be allowed to bill the employee separately in certain circumstances.

Considerations

The only way that an employer could conceivably garnish a worker's wages for incurring an extensive personal phone bill at work would be if the employer filed and won a civil suit against the employee. The employer might have several pretexts for this -- for example, an employer might sue an employee for theft if he used a company phone to call 1-900 numbers -- but whether the case had merit would depend on how the phone charges were incurred. If the employer did win the case and was awarded compensatory damages, he could conceivably garnish the employee's wages if the employee refused to pay the damages.