Manager is trying to make me pay out of pocket for a drawer shortage

Hey all, not sure if this is technically illegal or not, but I feel like this is where I can get the best advice so I’m posting here as well. I work at a Smoothie King and I’m leaving the job soon (tomorrow), but I’ve run into a situation with my manager that I need some advice on.

The other day, I took over a cash drawer from a coworker. We’re supposed to start with $150 in the drawer. Before she left, she counted her drawer, dropped what she needed to, and handed it off to me.

At the end of the day, another coworker wasn’t sure if a drop had already been made, so she told me to go ahead and take out $26 (which is how much the first coworker should have dropped) just in case and I did. when I counted my drawer and entered the amount into the system, it told me I was $26 short. Realizing the job had already been done earlier, I immediately put the $26 back in the drawer and recounted the drawer.

However, in order to enter a recount into the system, I needed a manager pin. I asked my manager for it and she refused. So although I fixed the drawer physically, I wasn’t able to record that in the system. Now she’s telling me I owe the $26 out of pocket.

I tried explaining the situation to her, but she’s still insisting I pay it. I make $10/hour. If anyone knows where to go from here please let me know.

Location: Indiana

Posted Aug 5, 2025, 10:14 PM UTC

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