Good faith defenses by an employer will preclude imposition of penalties. The statute is strictly construed, being penal in nature, and its provisions may yield to equitable defenses.1 An employer who shows an equitable defense may avoid penalties, but not attorney fees, if wages are actually due.
Defenses to payment have included:
◦ Prior overpayments that could be offset against wages due
◦ Property loss or damage2
◦ Pre-employment medical exam or drug test costs for an employee who resigns within 90 days of hiring3
Defenses to penalties have included:
◦ Inability to locate an employee
◦ Good faith error (e.g., a true clerical error)
◦ Bona fide dispute about the amount due
◦ Perceived or actual need to offset amounts due from employee
◦ Employment did not end in resignation or termination
Rejected defenses have included:
◦ Poor bookkeeping practices or other negligence
◦ Employee’s abrupt resignation
◦ Employee’s refusal to pick up the check when the employee requested that it be mailed
◦ Employee’s failure to complete tax forms or to sign receipt acknowledging payment
◦ Reliance on unlawful company policy
◦ Reliance on legal advice
◦ Reliance on an illegal post-termination contract to avoid statutory obligations
- 1Boudreaux v. Hamilton Med. Grp., Inc., 94-0879 (La. 10/17/93), 644 So. 2d 619.
- 2While La. R.S. 23:635 prohibits an employer from deducting “fines” from wages (e.g., for violating a work rule), this statute does not prevent an employer from withholding wages for willful or negligent damage of employer property.
- 3La. R.S. 23:634(B).