A bakery owner put it to me this way: "I have an employee who arrives 15 minutes late almost every day. Can I deduct half an hour from their salary as a punishment so they learn?". The question is a trap, and the short answer is: you can deduct the 15 minutes they didn't work, but not the half hour "as punishment". That difference—between deducting what wasn't worked and applying a fine—is exactly where most employers go wrong and end up with a claim. Here I explain what Argentine law says, what you can do, and what you can't.