Hello! I am new to this sub, but someone told me I should post on here and get a public opinion, and hopefully some answers!
So, my bf has been working for the same employer (let's call him Dick- not a real name but fitting) for a little over a year now and things are getting out of hand. For relevance, we live in a tourist town, so at the start of his job, the season was very slow with few customers. When he first started working for Dick, everything was going okay because he was getting paid well along with tips. Dick had started a no phone rule, and if you were caught with your phone he would take money from tips made (no specific amount just whatever he decided). At this time I was working on the retail end of the store, my bf and I were just a few feet from each other so I would sometimes wander over with another coworker of mine and we would chat if no customers were in the store. Dick then decided to start taking tip money if my bf was caught talking to me. It was $5 for each time he spoke to me even if it was a passing hello as he went to the shared employee bathroom.
My bf and I both end up leaving due to bad management. Dick offered my bf another job at a different store he owned in town. As I mentioned, we live in a tourist town so we were coming up on “dead” season and it's hard to find work if you don't have a year round/salary job. So, boyfriend took his offer, kinda hoping the dynamic would change. Wrong. Just like before, everything was going well. Dick even started paying him cash (under the table) if my bf made big purchase sales. Since I had gotten a separate job, we figured there would be no way for Dick to take money away for talking to me. I even avoided going to visit him and bring him lunch and stuff the first couple weeks. Anyway, Dick is back to the bullshit. At the end of every shift, my bf is supposed to walk through the store and make sure shelves are organized, T-shirts folded properly, etc. He tends to stay about 30-40 minutes after his shift do to all of this. Recently, Dick has decided he's going to take $1 out of my bf's paycheck for every unfolded shirt because according to Dick he goes back to the store and will supposedly find unfolded clothes and disorganized shelves. He's also began making my boyfriend clock in and out for using the bathroom. At this point, I'm ready to file a claim, but my bf wants to wait for his paycheck to see if Dick is actually taking money from him. My bf has currently secured another job so he can quit but I'm tired of letting Dick get away with what he's doing.
Does anyone have any tips on how to handle this? Or have experience with this type of situation?