Charging employees for lost items or broken items Cancel The title field is required!

1. Chad Shafer

   

   2 posts
   
   1/24/2013 8:01 PM

   How many golf courses charge their employees for items they may loss like safety glasses and other items like that? How many courses charge their employees if they break a piece of equipment because they were operating the equipment in a manner inconsistent with normal operation? We are looking at maybe doing this at are golf course so I wanted to see what others do first before implementing this policy. Thanks for your input.

   
   
   
   
2. Joey Brown

   

   0 posts
   
   1/25/2013 5:01 AM

   Charging employees for broken equipment leads to the employee not saying anything about the broken equipment. If someone is being wreckless on the equipment, they are not allowed on it. If they are wreckless on a weedeater, they are given a slingblade. If they are wreckless on it, they are terminated. It usually only takes one guy being demoted to slingblade before the rest of the crew starts to take care of their equipment.

   
   
   
   
3. Clay Putnam

   

   33 posts
   
   1/25/2013 7:01 AM

   Chad Shafer said: How many golf courses charge their employees for items they may loss like safety glasses and other items like that? How many courses charge their employees if they break a piece of equipment because they were operating the equipment in a manner inconsistent with normal operation? We are looking at maybe doing this at are golf course so I wanted to see what others do first before implementing this policy. Thanks for your input.

   
   
   I think you're opening a can of worms. I think it's perfectly fine to charge an employee for items such as safety gear (hard hats/safety glasses/rain gear/etc) but only after you have given these items to the employee on a reasonably regular basis. Safety gear is required regulations for our work so if the employee loses his/her safety glasses that we gave them then it is the employee's responsibility to replace them. However, an employee losing a wrench in a ditch is a different matter. First of all, how often does this happen? Rarely. So why make a fuss. It only creates bad-will with your staff. Secondly, if you find tool/equipment damage is becoming a consistent issue then that becomes grounds for dismissal of the employee.

   
   
   
   
4. McDonagh Patrick

   
   1/25/2013 7:01 AM

   A few years ago i started to issue my crew one pair of safety glasses and one rainsuit. They were told that if they lost them they would be responsible for replacement. We posted the cost of each item on the lunch room wall. We had to do this as they were treating everything as if it were disposable. They have lockers to keep their gear in and it seems to have worked.

   
   
   
   
5. James Schmid

   

   1 posts
   
   1/25/2013 7:01 AM

   Chad Shafer said: How many golf courses charge their employees for items they may loss like safety glasses and other items like that? How many courses charge their employees if they break a piece of equipment because they were operating the equipment in a manner inconsistent with normal operation? We are looking at maybe doing this at are golf course so I wanted to see what others do first before implementing this policy. Thanks for your input.

   
   
   
   Safety glasses are like 3 dollars.
   
   In California you can't deduct from an employee's paycheck for broken stuff.
   
   If you have employees who break stuff follow the disciplinary process and fire them if needed.

   
   
   
   
6. Sean Hoolehan

   

   0 posts
   
   1/25/2013 10:01 AM

   Chad,
   
   Charging for these items is counter productive. Even good people have bad days and you may have more time spent looking for a misplaced pair of $3 safety classes than they are even worth.
   
   The key is being very selective when you hire. 20+ years ago i struggled with workers comp claims. I was very frustrated because no matter what we did it seemed like it never ended. At the time I tried to make every worker personally responsible. I shared my frustration with some OSHA experts. They said that the best safety program is good employee relations and that begins with hiring the right (not the best) people. I have had very few claims ever since. Don't make one problem into two.

   
   
   
   
7. Peter Bowman

   

   11 posts
   
   1/26/2013 9:01 AM

   Chad Shafer said: How many golf courses charge their employees for items they may loss like safety glasses and other items like that? How many courses charge their employees if they break a piece of equipment because they were operating the equipment in a manner inconsistent with normal operation? We are looking at maybe doing this at are golf course so I wanted to see what others do first before implementing this policy. Thanks for your input.

   
   
   Chad,
   If you drive a company truck, don't break it.

   
   
   
   
8. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   1/26/2013 4:01 PM

   I did an OJT at a resort and when hand tools were coming up broken, they instituted a check out system. This made sure they were stored at the end of the day, if one was broken, it was noted so replacements could be gotten, and also hold someone accountable, not to charge them but to record and if they had too many then they could be replaced too.
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
9. Wally Dowe

   

   0 posts
   
   1/28/2013 3:01 PM

   We issue all new employees the proper safety equipment - gloves, glasses etc. If the item wears out we ask that they turn in the worn item for a replacement. If they lose it they pay for the replacement. For the larger pieces of equipment we have a policy in place that the employee pays for half the damage. We review these instances on a case by case basis. The point of the policy is not to punish anyone but to instill a sense of responsibility in the staff for the equipment they operate.
   
   Hiring someone at $8, $9 or $10 an hour and then putting them on a $10,000, $20,000 or $40,000 dollar piece of equipment and expecting them to treat it like they own it is a great concept but in reality does not always work. The staff is here to collect a paycheck and really do not care if they crack a cowling, rip a canopy, bust a headlight or mow over a rock and bust a reel.
   
   We assign equipment to the operators each day and can track damage back to the operator. Yes, you may run the risk of them not saying anything but we have experienced that the operators will now inspect the equipment before they operate it and report any damage they may find.
   
   Wally Dowe
   Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club
   Tucson, AZ