Legal to dock pay for (alleged) damage to merchandise? I got a temp job to make some money. I quit, as they were docking my pay so much that I made no money. I can't imagine this is legal. First, the backstory. This Virginia toy reseller purchased 20,000 light up necklaces to sell to a theme park. They received the shipment from a distributor in China. When they came in, they realized the breakaway clasp was way to tight. It was extremely hard to snap and unsnap. Essentially, they weren't breakaway. They felt this was a danger, as if the necklace was around someone's neck and it got caught while on a ride, it could be a serious hazard. They found if they used a specific tool, they can shave down the plastic and make it easy to breakaway. That's where the temps come in. Three temps came in to do the work. It was independent contract work and they were paying $0.19 per piece. If a piece was damaged, they were charging $3 per piece, as that is what they were selling it for to the theme park. We settled into an assembly line, where I was unpackaging the necklaces. The next person was shaving them down and the next was getting them ready to be repackaged. We did 1684 in 2 days. At $0.19 per piece, that's $106 per person. Today, they said, 96 of those were unusable. That's a 94% success rate. They said they were charging us the $3 per piece, split amongst the 3 of us. That $288 split three ways, docking us each $96. However, I didn't damage any of the pieces, as I was just unpacking them. Today, we switched to everyone doing their own work. I did 75. Out of those 75, 72 were good, making me $13.68, but losing me $9. A 96% success rate, netted $4.68. At that point, I realized there was no money to be made and I quit. In roughly 2.5 days of work I made $14.68. I asked to talk to the president of the company. I explained the situation and he said those were the rules. I told him I didn't damage any of the first 96 and that with only 3 bad today, I still made no money. He said he "understood where I was coming from." Really? Thanks. I said I would check with a lawyer to see if this was legal. His lips trembled at this. It obviously hit a nerve and he got upset and was close to yelling. He still said that he owed me no more than the $14. However, due to his reaction, I have a feeling he can't be charging us $3 per piece and he knew it. So I have two questions: Can they dock $3 per piece? I'm sure they didn't buy it at that rate, that's what they are selling them for. Can I be held responsible for the 96 damaged pieces that I didn't damage?
The Commonwealth of Virginia defines a worker as an employee if his or her employer: Furnishes, tools, materials and equipment needed to do the work; Sets the hours of work; Withholds payroll federal and state income taxes and Social Security taxes Receives direction and training from the employer about how to do the work; and Is paid by the hour, week, or month instead of being paid at the completion of a job Virginia also lists the 20 IRS factors and Virginia exemptions for Employee Classification on their web site. One of the factors in determining if a worker is an employee states, "If the employer furnishes significant tools, materials and other equipment by an employer, the worker is generally an employee." Other factors include whether or not the employer can discharge a worker or if the worker can quit work at any time without incurring liability. There are many factors that will be unique to your particular situation that will determine if you were an employee or a contractor. If you were an employee and not a contractor then, in Virginia, the employer would have had to pay you at least minimum wage for your efforts. Generally speaking, an employers recourse for dealing with a non-negligent employee who performs their work incorrectly is to terminate the employment relationship. It is generally not acceptable to dun the worker for damages that occur during the normal course of business. If, on the other hand, you were an actual contractor then your contract with your client will be the guide in how you were paid and would also define the damages for which you are responsible for work not performed to contractual specifications. It is still possible to pay an employee for piece work. This is often done in construction and could make sense for the type of work you were performing. However, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires that the employer maintain records regarding hours worked so that there is an assurance that minimum wage and overtime rules are followed. There is a good article related to the construction industry that provides a good explanation of the details. Most state employment commissions, including Virginia's, provide assistance to workers to help them determine if they were properly classified. Virginia's website does this as well allowing you to call or send an email.
Possibly I am Australian so I am not familiar with Albertan labour law but I have done a little research and the underlying common law principles are similar. I will assume that you are covered by Albertan law and not the Canada Labour Code. The next part of the answer is based on A Guide to Rights and Responsibilities in Alberta Workplaces. First, if you lost it they would need to ask you to pay for it, they could not deduct it from your pay without a garnishee order (p. 10). Second, if the device is safety equipment, and it is certainly arguable that it is, then it is the employee's responsibility to use it and the employer's responsibility to keep it in safe working order; this would include replacing it if it were lost (p. 12). The common law position depends on a) the contract and b) if any negligence were involved. Contract What does your current employment contract say about your use of the employer's equipment generally and this item in particular? If it says something then, unless it is an illegal term, that is what happens. If it is silent, then it turns on the particular circumstances. Also, a contract cannot be changed unilaterally, if they are trying to introduce a new term then you have to agree to it; remembering that there may be consequences to taking a stand against your employer, you should say that you do not agree - this removes the risk that the employer could argue that there was tacit agreement. Negligence In order to establish negligence as a Cause of Action under the law of torts, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant: had a duty to the plaintiff, as an employee this is virtually a given; breached that duty by failing to conform to the required standard of conduct (generally the standard of a reasonable person), this would depend on the circumstances of the loss or damage. You have to take reasonable care of the equipment - this is not a subjective standard, you need to do everything that a person in your position can do to protect the equipment from loss or damage; the negligent conduct was, in law, the cause of the harm to the plaintiff. This has to do with the "proximity" of the harm, if for example the device needed a battery change and you took it to a technician who damaged the item in changing the battery then your actions are not proximate to the loss; and the plaintiff was, in fact, harmed or damaged. Well, if it is lost or damaged this is pretty unarguable. So, if you take reasonable care of the device and, notwithstanding, it is lost or damaged then you would not be liable for negligence ... probably. Talk to your union rep; this is exactly the sort of stuff that they are there to sort out.
Possibly The game company has almost certainly excluded liability under the contract you entered. There may be some consumer protection that you have that they cannot exclude - I don’t know enough about German law to meaningfully comment. Notwithstanding, if you were to initiate legal action against the, as yet, unknown wrongdoer, you could subpoena the relevant records from the game company with a court order. No matter what privacy or other protections the other person has, the game company must obey the order or be in contempt. Without such an order the game company is right that they can’t disclose details of other users. As a practical matter, it will cost several hundred € to initiate legal action and several thousand to pursue it to the end. And you might lose. A better response is to treat the lost €80 as a relatively cheap life lesson - many people lose a lot more learning to recognise scams.
Assuming USA law: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2315 If you accept or buy goods that are knowingly stolen you may be fined or imprisoned. If you buy goods and later find out they were stolen you can sue for a refund. However, I'd say the likelihood of getting your money back is incredibly low.
On what grounds would you sue? Contract Well, I think that you would struggle to find the necessary elements (see What is a contract and what is required for them to be valid?) In particular, you would struggle to prove that there was intention to create legal relations on their part and possibly on yours. Are you able to identify in your "back &amp; forth" a clear, unequivocal offer and acceptance? Without knowing the details of the "back &amp; forth": I was hoping that someone at $organization might be willing to write an article explaining what you do, the history of the organization and how it works appears on the face of it to be a request for a gift; not an offer to treat. Promissory Estoppel If you don't have a contract then it is possible (IMO unlikely) that they induced you by your actions to commit resources (your time in writing) in anticipation of a reward (them publishing what you wrote). To be estopped they would have to have known that you were writing the article in the expectation that it would have your organisation's name in it, that they did not intend for that to happen and that they allowed you to invest those resources notwithstanding. If you can prove all of that then you can require them to do what they promised. The big difficulty I see in this is did you tell them that a) you were writing the article, b) it would have your name in it and c) you expected it to be published in that form. Copyright If they publish the work or a derivative work without your permission you can sue for breach of copyright. As it stands, they probably have an implied licence to publish and you would need to explicitly revoke that. Options There are two reasons to go to court: Money Principle If you are going to court for money then this is at best a risky investment and at worst a gamble: balance your risk and reward carefully. If you are going to court for a principle then I simultaneously admire your principles and think you're an idiot. Make a deal Explain that the reason that you wrote the article was a) to support their fine publication and the fantastic work it does (even if you don't) and b) to garner good publicity for your organisation. You understand and admire their strong editorial stance (especially if you don't) but the article involved a considerable amount of work and could they see their way clear to give you a significant discount (~80%) on a full page ad facing the article.
What are our possibilities here? You could be sued for damages in Mexico, the country of origin of the copyright or any of the other signatories of the Berne Convention. You could also be charged with a criminal offence but that is less likely. how much can we get away with? Not a legal question. What you are proposing is illegal - how likely your getaway plan is to work is not for me to say. Is there any advantage on us being on México? No Is there any advantage on picking any either Dragon Ball or League of legends because of the country they are in? No Can they stop us from doing it? Yes
Are online stores supposed to state the true “order cost”/value of an order on the package/envelope for the customs? Yes Is it common practice to slash 10x off of the price for the customs to not add various fees? Common? Probably no. Uncommon? Also, probably no. Isn't that illegal? Yes Of course, they can claim it was a mistake if ever found out, but if they do it consistently, that seems difficult... Not to mention there must be electronic proof of how much each order actually cost the customer? Yes Look, robbing banks is illegal but people still rob banks. Similarly, ripping off HM Revenue &amp; Customs is illegal but people still do that too. In fact, far more people do that than rob banks.
It says it's an "MP4 player" but it doesn't play MP4s. This seems rather straightforward to me---assuming it really doesn't play any kind of MP4 at all. I would agree you could go back to the shop armed with the appropriate wording from the SoG Act and state your case to the manager. If the front desk staff are unhelpful don't argue with them but rather ask to speak to the duty manager. No doubt the staff will talk about their thirty day return policy, but you are not interested in this; since you are relying on your statutory rights. If that is not successful, write directly to the head office. Keep your letter short, neutral and with no emotion whatsoever. Describe the facts, include proof of purchase, and request your money back. Argos is a large shop, they will pay you off ("as a gesture of good will") rather than fight a pointless claim in the SCC. However taking an action to the SCC is not necessarily free so you might yourselves not feel it worth it.