Deductions

In certain cases, employers are allowed to make deductions from an employee’s pay.

Allowable deductions include those:

  • required by federal or provincial law, such as taxes and employment insurance premiums;
  • authorized by a court order, such as garnished child support payments, or by a collective agreement, such as union dues;
  • intended to recoup overpayment of wages; and
  • agreed to and authorized in writing by the employee, e.g. charitable donations, savings plan contributions, medical and dental premiums, life insurance and long- term disability premiums, pension plan or RRSP contributions, etc. To be valid, the proposed authorization should set out the specific amounts, purpose and frequency of the deductions to ensure that employees understand what they are signing and how/when it will affect them.

Employers cannot, however, make deductions for money owed to them, property damage sustained or traffic tickets and fines incurred without the employee’s voluntary agreement and written consent. If the employer feels that the employee is responsible the alternative is to go to civil court.

To read further, see Pamphlet #13 – Deductions from Wages.

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Date Modified:
2012-02-15