Late last year, Walmart courted controversy by making employees buy new uniforms. As Think Progress noted at the time:
At first glance, making Walmart workers pay for their work outfits seems illegal. Under federal labor law, employers can’t make their workers buy uniforms with their own money if doing so would drop their wages below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Given that reports put sales workers’ pay at about $8.80 an hour, paying for new clothes out of that figure would likely bring their wages too low. (The company claims full-time workers make $12.78 an hour.)
But, under the language used by the company, the new clothes aren’t “uniforms.” Instead, they’re part of a new “dress code.”
As horrible as this was, the Indiana GOP is planning a whole new level of awful with a bill scheduled to go before the House Judiciary committee today.
HB 1469 would:
... allow employers to garnish unlimited amounts of wages from workers for the purchase, rental or use of uniforms and equipment required to do their jobs as well as any training deemed necessary by the employer. It also removes mandatory penalties on employers for not making payroll, or shorting an employee's paycheck, opening the door to more instances of wage theft.
Work in a call center?
Be prepared to pay daily for your desk and phone.
Work in construction?
Backhoes ain't free, and guess what. That's coming out of your check.
Teach at a charter school?
Somebody's got to pay to keep the lights on.
2015 and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.