Законы рабочего и работодателя.

Hello. Welcome to the lessons on the laws of the Torah and Judaism. Today's lesson is dedicated to the worker and the employer. In the past weekly portion, it is written how Jacob worked for Laban for 20 years, and the Torah emphasizes his honesty. And, of course, first and foremost, all these laws must be built on the honesty of both the worker and the employer. However, sometimes even honest people need to know the letter of the law, where and what obligations each person has. Therefore, I wanted to explain from the perspective of the Torah, our Shulchan Aruch, what laws exist and how they apply. Of course, in real life, one should not use this lesson for practical decisions. One must always connect with someone, ask a professional rabbi, because in every situation, small nuances can change the law. I am simply telling you the general rule, so that, as they say, you at least know what to ask and what to expect. Where do the laws of the worker and employer generally begin? Now, we don't even pay attention to the fact that we are employers. When we go to a hairdresser to ask someone to cut our hair, when we order a taxi, we become employers. The same applies if someone asked us for help with something and then the question arises, can we ask for money for it, or not. That is, the laws come up very often. And first and foremost, if you asked someone to do something, what obligates you, what is their obligation, now the word must be kept. Of course, it is understood that the word must be kept. In real life, when you asked a taxi driver, you called a taxi driver and told him to come tomorrow, even though there is no signed document. He did not sign a document that he would come, and you did not sign a document that you would pay him. But both, if you agreed that he would come to you and you are hiring him, and he said that yes, he would come, you gave your word. What now, if one of you changes your mind? Now, if there is no material damage, meaning you called a taxi driver and said, "You know, the situation has changed, don't come." If he lost no money from this," or vice versa, he calls you and says, "You know, I can't come, and you lost nothing, you can find another taxi driver." It is undesirable to do this, of course, without a reason, but since no one lost anything, both have the right, since it is only based on a word, we can cancel if no one lost anything. If someone incurs money, it caused some material damage, for example, the taxi driver, because you booked him for tomorrow, refused someone else to go to the airport at the same time. Or vice versa, the taxi driver, who refused you, said, "You know, I'm not coming." Because of this, you were late, did not get to the airport, and you have damages. Very often, although it was all based on a word, but because of your word there is damage, very often you will have to compensate for this damage. Of course, in real life, one must ask how complex the laws are, what the damage is, how much. But one must keep in mind that if your word caused someone damage, sometimes you will have to answer for it. Again, and this is all because there was no real contract. Sometimes contracts are signed in real situations, when someone gets hired by someone else, and so on. If it's an official contract, it's significantly more complex and serious. Usually, the contract states that if someone changes their mind, if someone has already started working for you, meaning the taxi driver has already left, you called someone and said, "Yes, I'm already on my way." And he is already approaching. Literally 5 minutes later, the taxi driver arrives, and your friend drives by nearby. "Here, I'll give you a ride, I'll give you a free ride." Well, free is always cheaper than paid. You have no right to do this under any circumstances. You not only... he has already left, meaning he is already, as it were, working for you, so you have no right to refuse him. Even if you were offered a free ride, but he is already... you have no right to fire a worker who is already, as it were, working for you. An interesting question. Is it possible, when people are already standing at a bus stop? That is, people are standing at a bus stop, and you drive by and are willing to take them somewhere for free? Is this considered causing damage, or do you call it causing damage to the bus company? If it is done for money, meaning if someone drives by, a taxi driver drives by specifically to the bus stop to give a ride for money, that is significantly worse. Some argue that since right now, when no one is waiting at the bus stop, no one has promised anything to anyone. Some say that it is not yet... as it were, he is not on the bus. This is a good question. So, one must be very careful not to offend anyone. Understand? Everyone automatically roots for the passengers, cares about the passengers. If, you understand, if you were the owner of this bus company, you would look at it completely differently. Well, this can be a situation. So, when someone has already started working for you, you cannot simply fire them without reason, even if there is a loss or no loss. When a person is working, it is very important, I mentioned this, it's a matter of honesty. When a person is working, if he is paid by the hour, very often people are paid by the hour. Of course, if he is paid by the hour, he has no right to do non-work during working hours. This is a form of theft. That is, if a person during work, when he is supposed to be working, is wasting time on the computer, ordering things for himself, buying things, and doing foolish things, this is a form of theft that should not be done under any circumstances. And he should, if this has already happened, theoretically he should, not theoretically, but practically he should compensate for the losses and return the money for that hour. Now, in real life, things don't happen like in the times of the Talmud. In the times of the Talmud, two sages were walking, they met a stranger. They greeted him, and he did not respond. So, his salvation, he didn't respond to us. There were many questions. One of them was, he didn't respond to us. He said, "I am working for someone, I cannot say 'Shalom aleichem.' It takes time." Now, in our time, there are things that are taken for granted. Since it is taken for granted that when you hire someone, if they are paid by the hour, it is taken for granted that if his wife calls and he is distracted for a minute, it is normal. It is normal. If he went to talk to his wife for 12, 15 minutes, half an hour, that is not normal. So, one must be very, very careful not to overdo it. As far as I can tell, in our time, I don't know what country you live in, what... everything, everything changes, but more or less a small, very short phone conversation, in my opinion, is normal. Again, it also depends on the job. If someone works as a nurse in an office, perhaps it's not like that, but in general, to step away for a minute or two, to go to the restroom, to blow your nose, it's understood. In our time, even though the times of the Talmud were stricter. The laws in our time are taken for granted. It is interesting, in the times of the Talmud, they didn't even say Birkat Hamazon, they had to say three blessings and did a shortened Birkat Hamazon. In our time, if the worker and employer are religious Jews, it is usually implied that if working hours include time when she will pray Mincha, it is usually implied that the employer gives the worker time to pray Mincha. Sometimes this is included in the lunch break. That is, in our time, we are not so meticulous about every second. However, one must not go too far, as they say. If a person works by the hour, one must be very careful not to cause any damage to the employer. By the way, regarding food, sometimes the Talmud mentions it. It depends on the custom. Sometimes the employer says that I will pay for food and so on. It is desirable to discuss all these things in advance so that there are no misunderstandings later. The same applies to the price. It is desirable to agree on the price in advance. Now, sometimes you come... there are things that are taken for granted. But the worker cannot charge exorbitant prices. That is, there is a general price. By the way, it is written that if the price is not agreed upon, if it was not discussed at all, then on the contrary, the employer can say that I want to pay less. But usually, every worker, a locksmith, an electrician who comes, has more or less their own rates. Of course, he should not come, you know, to look at the walls of the house. "Ah, in this house I can earn so much." Then he goes to another house. Yes, he can charge less if he has the same rates, but he comes to a poor house and wants to charge less. This is a great mitzvah, please. But to charge more money for work that he was not going to charge a lot for, but simply because he sees that the homeowner has a good house, so the electrician charges more money. This is, to put it mildly, incorrect. From the employer's perspective, there is a mitzvah to pay on time, an obligation to pay on time. If the work was finished during the day, it must be paid during the day. If the work was finished at night, it must be paid at night. Sometimes it happens that the employer cannot pay on time, meaning he is not in the city and so on, but in general, for example, with a hairdresser, you must pay him immediately. Even before Chafetz Chaim wrote a book about these laws, he says that if you enter a barbershop, and it is already sunset, it is better, perhaps, to pay in advance, because the sun will set. Who knows when the haircut will end, and you will violate the law by not paying on time. In our time, it is very often taken for granted that people are not against it and people do not expect to be paid immediately. That is, I don't want to scare you, as they say, but it is very important, if someone has truly worked for you, to pay on time, it is an obligation. And God forbid, if you pay late, it is a prohibition. That is, it is written interestingly that it is better even to borrow money from someone, and even from the worker himself, but to pay on time. However, sometimes the structure itself is such that, for example, people are paid sometimes once a week, sometimes once a month. Of course, it is as they are paid. It is also important to know that if the employer truly has no money, or very often the company itself does not hire, but someone in between. That is, there is some large, for example, school, teachers are hired for the school, and someone hired a teacher for the school and that person pays the money. So, there may be exceptions, but in general, it is taken for granted that a person must pay. If someone hired someone, they must pay accordingly, on time. And also, when the work begins, when the work ends, if they are indeed paid by the hour, it is very important that the worker actually arrives at work on time. Again, in our time, most employers, if you are 5 minutes late, they will not be offended, but of course, they will be more pleased if you arrive on time. And also interesting regarding vacation, rest, if it's a few minutes of work, and here it's quite complicated. It depends on the job, there are things that are taken for granted, there is a lunch break, these things are all dependent on the workplace. It is recommended, as I have already said, it is maximally recommended to always agree in advance. Sometimes it is simply not very pleasant, perhaps unpleasant, but in advance, if you, for example, take your car to a mechanic, if it's a new mechanic, if you are afraid to just look, to find out, and so on. And if you don't agree in advance, especially when it's more serious work, a lot of problems and misunderstandings can be avoided. Let us hope that just as our patriarch Jacob worked honestly for 20 years, and let us hope that we will have the opportunity, whether we are workers or employers, to truly earn our money honestly and spend it honestly afterwards. I thank everyone for their attention. All the best.