<prompt> Human: I quit my job last week and today when I went in to collect my last check and turn in my uniforms the secretary said she had to call the owner. He was very bitter and said they were putting a 72 hr hold on my check to make sure I didnt steal anything. Its a carpet cleaner place in Colorado. What should my recourse be? I dont want to wait longer than necessary but he said it was a law that said he could, and its not. I checked the labor law website. There was no reason for him to think that, he wasnt willing to pay me a managers wage to do a managers job. I just want to make sure I get my pay and dont get screwed somehow.  <response>: Also, in the US things you break or steal from a place of employment cant be deducted from your pay. They an terminate you or press charges and then seek damages but they cant just unilaterally deduct wages from your checks without going through a legal process where you have a chance to disprove their assertions. Just in case it comes to that.Anecdote: worked at a cafebakery where the baker was the General Manager and I was Front of House manager. I had to explain to him at length the many different kinds of legal problems he wascould be exposing us to by informing employeess in writing that if they dropped any more baked goods specifically cakes that the retail price would be deducted from their next check. The conversation actually ended with:You cannot legally do that.Yes I can.No, you cant; their wages are protected from this activity as it is a form of retribution prohibited by labor laws. Worse yet, not only would we be forced to repay the deducted wages, wed hae to spend who-knows-how-much on a lawyer to prevent worse fines, and wed still have to pay fines. Lots of big fines. Not to mention youd spend several days not working and in court, along with me, the owner and our CFO. In a nutshell youd be risking tens-of-thousands for what at most is just a thousand. 