Louisiana Revised Statutes & Codes
La. Rev. Stat. § 23:635 (2026)
Assessment of fines against employees unlawful; exceptions
✓ current as of May 2026
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§635. Assessment of fines against employees unlawful; exceptions
No person, acting either for himself or as agent or otherwise, shall assess any fines against his employees or deduct any sum as fines from their wages. This Section shall not apply in cases where the employees wilfully or negligently damage goods or works, or in cases where the employees wilfully or negligently damage or break the property of the employer, or in cases where the employee is convicted or has pled guilty to the crime of theft of employer funds, but in such cases the fines shall not exceed the actual damage done.
Acts 2001, No. 768, §1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 18
cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1969–2023 · leading case: In Re Fedex Ground Package Sys., Inc., Emp. Practices Litig., 662 F. Supp. 2d 1069 (N.D. Ind. 2009).
In Re Fedex Ground Package Sys., Inc., Emp. Practices Litig., 662 F. Supp. 2d 1069 (N.D. Ind. 2009). “” La.Rev.Stat. § 23:635. FedEx notes that this statute doesn’t generally prohibit deductions from wages, but only those deductions that are made to punish or penalize.”
Glover v. Diving Servs. Intern., 577 So. 2d 1103 (La. Ct. App. 1991). “R.S. 23:635 does not authorize the $130.00 deduction; 4) defendant owes to plaintiff $130.”
Smith v. Acadiana Mortg. of Louisiana, Inc., 975 So. 2d 143 (La. Ct. App. 2008). “This Section shall not apply in cases where the employees wilfully or negligently damage goods or works, or in cases where the employees wilfully or negligently damage or break the property of the employer, or in cases where the employee is convicted or has pled guilty to the…”
Stoll v. Goodnight Corp., 469 So. 2d 1072 (La. Ct. App. 1985). “Stoll contends that defendant, by requiring her to reimburse it for the bad check loss, either has assessed a fine against her contrary to LRS 23:635, or has withheld wages due her at termination contrary to LRS 23:631.”
Brown v. Navarre Chevrolet, Inc., 610 So. 2d 165 (La. Ct. App. 1992). “A fine, within the meaning of LSA-R.S. 23:635, is a pecuniary penalty imposed for the violation of some law, rule or regulation.”
Slaughter v. Bd. of Supervisors of S. Univ. & Agric. & Mech. Coll., 76 So. 3d 438 (La. Ct. App. 2011). “R.S. 23:635 provides that the assessment of fines against employees or the deduction of a sum as fines from wages due is unlawful, as follows: |uNo person, acting either for himself or as agent or otherwise, shall assess any fines against his employees or deduct any sum as fines…”
Cupp v. Banks, 637 So. 2d 678 (La. Ct. App. 1994). “On appeal, Cupp argues that the deduction was an illegal fine imposed in violation of LSA-R.S. 23:635, and that Banks did not have the legal authority to make the deduction because the damage was not the result of Cupp's negligence.”
Cleary v. Lec Unwired, LLC, 804 So. 2d 916 (La. Ct. App. 2001). “R.S. 23:635 by withholding certain sums from his wages.”
Newsom v. Global Data Sys., Inc., 107 So. 3d 781 (La. Ct. App. 2012). “R.S. 23:635. In Service Investors Ltd. v.”
Stell v. Caylor, 223 So. 2d 423 (La. Ct. App. 1969). “The argument here is that the deposit constituted wages, which could be withheld. For the reasons stated above, we have concluded that the deposit did not constitute wages.”
Stegall v. Orr Motors of Little Rock, Inc., 121 So. 3d 684 (La. Ct. App. 2013). “R.S. 23:635, which prohibits an employer from deducting amounts from an employee’s paycheck as a penalty for perceived errors or policy violations by the employee.”
Pickney v. Mid-State Mktg., LLC, 318 F.R.D. 330 (W.D. La. 2016). “R.S. 23:635, and violation of the Louisiana Wage Payment Act, La.”
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