D4d5 - May an employer withhold certain amounts from the wages of his employee?

An employer may retain amounts from the wages of his employee only in the cases exhaustively listed by law.

Thus, no deduction may be made by the employer from remuneration other than in respect of:

1. fines incurred by the employee under the Labour Code, by virtue of his status or by virtue of duly displayed internal rules;
2. reparation for damage caused by the wrongdoing of the employee;
3. supplies to the employee:
   1.  of tools or instruments needed for work and maintenance thereof;
   2. of materials or equipment needed for work and of which employees are in charge in accordance with accepted usage or the terms of their recruitment.
      
4. cash advances.

The above deductions do not overlap either with the attachable portion, or with the assignable portion; those listed under numbers 1, 2 and 4 may not exceed 10% of wages.

The law seeks to protect the employee and is therefore a matter of public policy.

Interim payments made for a period of work completed or in progress, for which a definitive statement has not yet been drawn up, are not regarded as cash advances within the meaning of point 4 above.

Only payments of money by an employer outside the scope of performance of the employment contract are regarded as cash advances within the meaning of point 4 above.