P.E.I. employees asked to pay for ‘gas and dash’

But operators are being reminded it’s illegal to ding workers when a motorist steals fuel

With gasoline prices in P.E.I. at a four-year high, labour department officials are reminding gas-station operators they can’t make employees cover the cost of motorists who gas-and-dash.

As the per-litre price of petrol climbs across the country, so do the incidents of motorists gassing up their vehicles and then taking off, leaving the operator out of pocket and, in some cases, demanding that the attendant pay some or all the cost.

The island government expressly put a provision in its Employment Standards Act two years ago to pre- vent passing along the cost of stealing gasoline to the attendants. But that hasn’t stopped some operators.

“The law states categorically you can’t do it . . . there is no grey area,” Faye Martin, director of labour and industrial relations, told the Star. It also precludes operators from forcing their employees into some kind of cost-sharing arrangement.

“It was a problem here, and employees were being threatened at least, if not actually having pay withheld,” she said Wednesday. In Ontario, similar rules apply. Under the Employment Standards Act, a deduction from wages, even with signed authorization from the employee, is not allowed if there is a cash shortage or lost or stolen property if a person other than the employee had control over or access to the cash or property: “For example, if customers leave without paying the bill, commonly referred to as ‘dine and dash’ or a ‘gas and dash,’” said Ontario Labour Ministry spokesperson Greg Dennis. Martin said the province wants to avoid the kind of tragic incident that happened in Mississauga last year, when a gas-station attendant died of injuries suffered after trying to stop a man from leaving without paying for $75 in gas. Hashem Atifeh Rad, 62, of Mississauga, was struck by the fleeing vehicle May 19 and later died from his injuries. “We don’t want the employees in this province to feel that they have to put their life on the line for the sake of somebody who was choosing to steal from a gas station,” said P.E.I.’S Martin. Martin was alarmed to read reports of one operator stating publicly that he had an agreement to

P.E.I. put a provision in its Employment Standards Act to prevent passing along cost of stealing gas to attendants

share the cost of the loss with his employees, claiming they offered to help defray the cost. “We will be speaking to the gas retailers association and we will be paying a visit to this gentleman,” Martin said. Meanwhile, even before the recent spike in gas prices across Onta- rio, the OPP’S Caledon detachment warned last month that gas-anddash was a growing problem.

“The recent rise in gas prices has resulted in regular, almost daily calls . . . from local gas stations reporting drivers not paying for their gasoline and then driving off,” said Const. Jonathan Beckett.

Beckett told the Star Wednesday that as the price continues to climb, “all communities probably deal with this.”

He reminded motorists that driving away without paying is stealing. They can be charged with theft under $5,000 and upon conviction could face up to two years in jail.

“Theft is theft,” he said, adding scofflaws are, in many cases, not hurting the big oil companies but rather smaller independent operators.