Is this legal?
My husband has been working for a company remodeling mobile homes. When he applied for the job, they told him he needed basic tools. He has been working there for six months, and the owner came last week and made an list of tools required for the job. There are 37 items listed on the list such as pipe wrenchs, Pump of Sprayer, Dust Pan with Broom, Crescent Wrenches (of all three sizes), Wood Chisel, Sledge Hammer, Wonder Bar, Hopper Gun and compressor (3H.P. Pancake), and the list goes on and on. He wants my husband to sign it, and if he doesn’t have an item on the list he gets a .00 per hour deduction. He distributed this to all the employees. He even wanted him to have a multi-meter, and he isn’t even an electrician. The guy has them doing electrical wire and plumbing yet no one is licensed (and my husband never indicated he was). He was hired as a carpenter. The list is far from what he considers “basic tools” so is this legal? Can he fire my husband for not signing this
It would probably cost about 00 dollars for everything on his list, and we barely make it on what he makes now. We certainly do not have the extra money to buy these items. He has some of the things on the list such as hammers, tool belts, screwdrivers, guns, squares, drills, tapes, and other things needed to remodel a home, but some of the items are related to different fields and things he never even uses.
I think the company is supposed to provide the tools for the job, but im not sure. I would ask a lawyer
I don’t know if it is legal or not, but it is certainly wrong. It sounds as though the owner just wants to pay lower wages and looked for some legal loophole. Everyone there should walk out.
Unfortunately no, However your husband has the option to walk away if the new demands appear to be unreasonable…
Well, a company can ask you to agree to have certain things to do your job, such as a uniform or certain color trousers or safety shoes, and you may need to purchase these things out of your own pocket. So if your husband wants to continue working for this company, as bad as it sounds, then he probably would have to agree to have these tools. Skilled laborers commonly supply their own tools, which they need for their trade, but which they then can take from job to job as they choose. So for a person in such a position, the equipment required may be a personal benefit in the long run.
However, if your husband is a carpenter by trade, and his boss wants him to do electrical work, I think your electrician’s local would be able to give you their thoughts on that better than anyone here. They would also have any local laws or statutes regarding such situations at their fingertips, since it behooves them for their own sakes to know these things. They can tell you if your husband’s boss is violating any codes.
However, if you don’t have many resources, the sad thing is that your husband’s boss can fire your husband for not signing a piece of paper if he so chooses, and unless you have the money to pursue a claim, or can find an attorney to work pro bono, you can’t do much about it. Is this legal? Well, maybe so. It is if you live in an at-will employer state. The real reason he could fire your husband could be, he didn’t sign the agreement. But officially he could fire your husband because: he doesn’t like you, his wife, he doesn’t like your neighbors, he doesn’t like your mother, he doesn’t like men who wear tan boots…as long as it’s not provably based on religion, color, or creed, or orientation, he can let him go for whatever reason, and get away with it. It sucks, but there it is.
If your husband has completed an apprenticeship and has received his journeyman, I’m surprised the carpenter’s local can’t back him up or assist you in some way…
One of the criteria for determining if someone is an independent contractor versus an employee is whether or not the employer provides the tools or requires the worker to provide his own tools.
I think it’s reasonable for an employer to expect an employee to have some very simple, basic tools such as hammer, etc. because these are easily lost. However, more expensive tools that would be used by more than one person should be provided by the employer.
I think the best bet is for all of the affected employees to have a meeting with the employer about this, explaining that they can’t afford to buy everything on the list, that it should be his responsibility to buy the more expensive tools, and to also bring up the issue of licensed work. In this case, if everyone speaks with a common voice, the employer is more likely to listen and back down.
An employer can fire someone for any reason in most states – he doesn’t have to list the tool issue as the reason.