I decided to switch jobs; I gave my former employers four weeks notice and trained two new employees before my last day. They were really unhappy with my decision to leave. Today was payday, and, although I worked over 80 hours in the most recent pay period, I was only paid for 41.25 hours. I contacted my employers to inquire about the error in my paycheck, and I got the following response:
“When we completed the final calculations of your leave, the calculations of what you earned through February 24th resulted in a deficit of 78.28 hours of paid time off. As a bonus to you, we decided that we would credit you an extra 16 hours of paid time off thus reducing your deficit to 62.28 hours. To make up that deficit, we subtracted 38.25 hours from the 2/25/2022 paycheck and 24.00 hours from the upcoming 3/11/22 paycheck.”
During my employment I contracted COVID—I was told I had five days of paid sick leave. I communicated with my employers while I was out about my return date and they ultimately told me the would be most comfortable if I isolated the full 14 days before returning to the office. I missed nine work days while I was out and had previously used one sick day. However, when I returned to work my employers informed me that they would keep my salary going for the time I was sick. But now that I’ve decided to leave, all of a sudden they are calculating all the time I’ve been away from the office and deducting it from my wages. My understanding is that Virginia law states that an employer is not allowed to withhold any part of an employee’s wages unless:
The deduction is for a tax, payroll, or court-ordered purpose OR The employee gives written consent for the deduction.
I’m not really sure what to do—please advise