Can employees be disciplined by salary deduction?
Can Employers Deduct Employees' Wages Instead of Disciplinary Actions?
Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 127 of the Labor Code 2019, regulations on the prohibited acts when handling labor discipline are as follows:
Prohibited acts when handling labor discipline
- Infringing on the health, honor, life, reputation, or dignity of employees.
2. Imposing fines, deducting wages instead of handling labor discipline.
- Disciplining employees for violations not stipulated in the labor regulations or not agreed upon in the labor contract, or not provided by labor law.
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Thus, the act of deducting wages instead of handling labor discipline is one of the prohibited acts when handling labor discipline. Therefore, employers are not allowed to deduct employees' wages instead of handling labor discipline.
Is it permissible to discipline employees by wage deduction? (Image from the Internet)
How Many Forms of Labor Discipline Are There?
Pursuant to Article 124 of the Labor Code 2019, the forms of handling labor discipline are specified as follows:
Forms of handling labor discipline
Reprimand.
Extension of the wage raise period for no more than 06 months.
Demotion.
Dismissal.
Thus, according to current regulations, when handling labor discipline, employers are allowed to apply 04 forms of discipline, namely: Reprimand, extension of the wage raise period for no more than 06 months, demotion, and dismissal.
In Which Cases Is Dismissal as a Form of Labor Discipline Applied by Employers?
According to the provisions of Article 125 of the Labor Code 2019, the application of dismissal as a form of labor discipline is regulated as follows:
Application of dismissal as a form of labor discipline
Dismissal is applied by employers in the following cases:
The employee commits acts of theft, embezzlement, gambling, intentional injury, or uses narcotics at the workplace;
The employee discloses business secrets, technological secrets, infringes on the employer's intellectual property rights, or commits acts causing serious damage or threatening to cause especially serious damage to the employer's property or interests, or commits sexual harassment at the workplace as stipulated in the labor regulations;
The employee is disciplined by wage rise extension or demotion, and repeats the violation during the period until the discipline is cleared. Re-offense refers to the case where the employee repeats the violation that has been disciplined and has not yet been cleared as stipulated in Article 126 of this Code;
The employee arbitrarily leaves work for a cumulative total of 05 days within 30 days or 20 days within 365 days from the first day of unauthorized absence without legitimate reasons.
Legitimate reasons include natural disasters, fires, personal or family illness with confirmation from a competent medical establishment, and other cases stipulated in the labor regulations.
Thus, according to the regulations, the form of disciplinary dismissal is applied by employers in the following cases:
- The employee commits acts of theft, embezzlement, gambling, intentional injury, or uses narcotics at the workplace;
- The employee discloses business secrets, technological secrets, infringes on the employer's intellectual property rights, or commits acts causing serious damage or threatening to cause especially serious damage to the employer's property or interests, or commits sexual harassment at the workplace as stipulated in the labor regulations;
- The employee is disciplined by wage rise extension or demotion, and repeats the violation during the period until the discipline is cleared. Re-offense refers to the case where the employee repeats the violation that has been disciplined and has not yet been cleared as stipulated.
- The employee arbitrarily leaves work for a cumulative total of 05 days within 30 days or 20 days within 365 days from the first day of unauthorized absence without legitimate reasons.
Legitimate reasons include natural disasters, fires, personal or family illness with confirmation from a competent medical establishment, and other cases stipulated in the labor regulations.
