After some research I can pretty much tell my company to go pound sand and they cant fire me for it.


They cannot garnish your next paychecks as it is against California law, advise them in writing the CA labor law. They could get the money back but they would go to court, unless you signed an authorization prior.

11.2 Employer May Not Collect Or Receive Wages Paid Employee. Labor Code § 221 prohibits an employer from recovering wages paid. This provision prohibits an employer from receiving from an employee any wage paid by the employer to the employee either by deduction or recovery after payment of the wage. "It shall be unlawful for any employer to collect or receive from an employee any part of wages theretofore paid by said employer to said employee."

11.2.1 The California courts have held that Section 221 is "declarative of a strong public policy against fraud and deceit in the employment relationship. Even where fraud is not involved, however, the Legislature ha s recognized the employee's dependence on wages for the necessities of life and has, consequently, disapproved of unanticipated or unpredictab le deductions because they impose a special hardship on employees." (Hudgins v. Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. (1995) 34 Cal.App.4th 1109, 1118-1119)

An employer can lawfully withhold amounts from an employee's wages only: (1) when required or empowered to do so by state or federal law, or (2) when a deduction is expressly authorized in writing by the employee to cover insurance premiums, benefit plan contributions or other deductions not amounting to a rebate on the employee's wages, or (3) when a deduction to cover health, welfare, or pension contributions is expressly authorized by a wage or collective bargaining agreement. Labor Code Sections 221 and 224.

Although a wage garnishment is a lawful deduction from wages under Labor Code section 224, an employer cannot discharge an employee because a garnishment of wages has been threatened or if the employee's wages have been subjected to a garnishment for the payment of one judgment.