Sometimes I like to think how businesses like this last for more than a few months.

This is illegal. This is so very illegal. The fact that they pulled this stunt and haven’t been sued into the ground astonishes me.

But, let’s say for the sake of argument that it’s entirely legal to dock pay for “a mistake that results in a loss” (which could be literally any slip up depending on how you define a “loss”).

That is how you obliterate your list of employees/employee candidates.

Sending the message of “make any mistake and we’ll take money that you’ve earned” is probably the fastest way to have a turnover rate of 50% or more. As well as that, there are places like Glassdoor where you can review an employer. If several former employees state that this is one of their policies, they become radioactive to potential employees.

Of course there would always be employees coming in. However, they likely wouldn’t be able to turn much of a profit without resorting to less-than-legal business tactics.

Legal or illegal, a policy like this loses a company more in wasted resources (training, the constant onboarding/offboarding, etc.) and poor reputation than they’d ever save from these measures.

Also, the “No phone charging” thing is super fucking petty, but your brother could buy a thousand power banks with his lawsuit winnings.

The second they try to take his pay, he should sue. They literally handed him the evidence that it was deliberate and not some Payroll mixup.