Employer Wants To Keep 2 Of My Paychecks After Termination

Location: Texas

So here’s the deal, today my employer terminated me and kept my paychecks.

Let’s start off by saying the termination was NOT according to the signed document that includes the company’s policies which I saved pictures of just in case. The policy states that there will be 3 disciplinary actions before termination. First will be a verbal warning, second will be a write up, and termination will be possible after the third which would be another write up.

This morning my manager called me out on an error regarding a chart that we update at the beginning and end of each shift. The error being that I didn’t put my initials at the end. Because of this she decided she would give me a write up. She said this in the group chat about 3 or 4 times back to back which is then I said “I understood the first time, it’s whatever I’ll sign the write up”. After that I showed up to my shift in which she welcomed me by saying. “Sorry but boss is letting you go because of your mistake, plus he didn’t like the way you responded to the message.”

After this she told me “He’s also going to keep your paycheck because of the keys you lost” which is referring to a pair of keys to the store which I lost months in the past which they were aware of. The manager herself told me it was no big deal and gave me another copy. The paycheck he took was the one for the past pay period. Payday was always on Fridays but because of their own laziness they wouldn’t deliver it to us until the next Monday. I also already worked 50 some hours of the current pay period, which they also are saying they’re gonna hold. It’s also worth noting that they ONLY do paper checks. They say they offer direct deposit but when you ask them they do not allow you and simply tell you that “it’s only paper checks for now”.

Now like I said, I read the entirety of the company policies and the only policy that says anything about holding a paycheck is a purchase policy. As an employee you can choose to buy an item “on account” to be deducted from your upcoming paycheck. I have never bought anything that way in my time of working there.

What can I do? It is 2 paychecks they refuse to give me and the boss of the company will no longer answer my calls.

If you’re curious as to what the business is, it’s a smoke shop.