Employee-Caused Damages & Losses

applies to sales associates , assistant store managers & store managers · department retail · issued by lianne rymer · issued october 23, 2025 purpose to establish fair and consistent procedures for handling situations where an employee causes a financial loss, product damage, or monetary discrepancy while on shift if the loss is the customer's fault (i e theft) that is not our responsibility, but at the cost of the vendor this policy ensures compliance with company policies, and supports a culture of learning and accountability rather than discipline or deduction scope this policy applies to all retail employees and managers across all store locations policy statement shop makers recognizes that occasional errors or accidents may occur in the course of work employees will not be required to pay for, or have wages deducted for accidental breakage or product damage lost or missing merchandise customer walkouts or uncollected payments mistakes during transactions (e g , forgetting to ring up an item or applying the wrong discount) these incidents are considered part of normal business risk only in rare and exceptional circumstances, where there is clear evidence of willful misconduct or theft, may recovery be considered — and only with the employee's voluntary written authorization after the event legal compliance laws prohibit employers from deducting from an employee's pay for losses, damages, or shortages that result from accident, error, or negligence procedure for managers when a loss occurs document the incident record what happened, when, and who was involved note any immediate factors (e g , equipment failure, training gaps, high customer volume) take photos if applicable (e g , damaged product or display) keep all documentation confidential investigate have a calm, private conversation with the employee to understand what happened focus on learning, not blame determine if it was accidental , negligent , or intentional classify the incident accidental/error no deduction; coach and support as needed negligent pattern (repeated errors) address through performance management and retraining; repetitive incidents may lead to further actions willful misconduct or theft escalate to p\&c for review and next steps (may include discipline or termination) follow up provide coaching or retraining as appropriate review store procedures to prevent recurrence (e g , cash handling protocol, pos training) ensure the employee understands expectations moving forward be sure to charge the loss to the store card so that our vendors are not left at a loss reporting complete and submit an incident report p\&c will track and review for patterns, training needs, or system improvements prohibited actions managers must not deduct the cost of the loss from the employee's paycheque require an employee to pay cash to cover the loss imply or threaten wage deduction ask the employee to sign any pre authorization form covering potential future losses coaching approach mistakes and losses should be viewed as opportunities to reinforce correct procedures identify gaps in training or communication strengthen accountability through support and guidance example coaching conversation "thanks for taking a moment to talk about what happened earlier i know mistakes can happen during busy shifts let's walk through what led up to it and see how we can prevent it in the future — whether that's reviewing the pos process or adjusting how we handle high traffic moments the goal here is learning, not blame " procedure for managers when damages occur document the incident record what happened, when, and who was involved note any immediate factors (e g , equipment failure, training gaps, high customer volume) take photos if applicable (e g , damaged product or display) keep all documentation confidential investigate have a calm, private conversation with the employee to understand what happened focus on learning, not blame determine if it was accidental , negligent , or intentional classify the incident accidental/error no deduction; coach and support as needed negligent pattern (repeated errors) address through performance management and retraining willful misconduct or theft escalate to p\&c for review and next steps (may include discipline or termination) follow up provide coaching or retraining as appropriate ensure the employee understands expectations moving forward damages may be paid out to the vendor at wholesale cost ; if you find yourself in this situation, please reach out to your rm and p\&c for next steps if a customer breaks something and refuses to pay, we will cover the loss at the wholesale cost reporting complete and submit an incident report p\&c will track and review for patterns, training needs, or system improvements policy review this policy will be reviewed annually, or as required by changes in employment law