I received the first-month salary after I was hired but the paid amount was very different from the amount specified in the labor contract. I asked the employer about this and he said he had deducted expenses such as store bills and the cost of transportation for the weekend sightseeing: things which I did not ask for in the first place. I am quite angry because he didn’t say anything about deducting those costs from my wages beforehand. Can the employer deduct the expenses in such a way from my salary?
According to Paragraph 1, Article 43 of the Labor Standards Act, payment of wages shall be directly made in full to workers in currency. However, if prescribed by statutes or collective agreement, wages may partially be deducted or paid by means other than currency. In other words, the wage should be paid in cash, in full, on the payment date set by the employer directly.
Wages for employees are their source of livelihood, so the law protects them from unilateral decisions by the employer. There are some cases that employees may not be able to receive remedy. However, employers cannot deduct any bonds or damages against employees from their wages, other than legal deductions such as employee income tax, resident tax, health insurance premium, national pension deduction, employment insurance premium, etc. and union dues by collective agreement, if the employee works at a workplace with a trade union. If there is an illegal deduction, remedy can be sought through a written petition with the competent Labor Office for delayed payment of wage.