BS”D My wife owns a hairdressing salon. Please can you assist in a solution for the salon for Shabbos. The circumstances are as follows: 1. She has hairdressers that work for her on a commission basis. 2. Some of the hairdressers are Jewish. Some are goyim. The Jewish hairdressers are not shomer Shabbos. 3. The hairdressers insist the salon is open on Shabbos as it is a busy day for them as well as Yom Tov and if the salon was closed, they would lose commission. 4. The salon is in a Jewish area and is known by many people to be owned by a Jew (my wife). 5. When the hairdresser perform a service for a client there is often a cost to the salon e.g. products utilized etc.
Please can you suggest a solution which will enable my wife to keep the salon open on Shabbos but without mechallel Shabbos on her side. Please advise if you require any additional information.
Answer:
Because the salon is in a Jewish area, and is known to be owned by your wife, there is a concrete problem of leaving the store open on Shabbos. This is an even greater problem where it is the norm for workers to work on a salary basis, and not for commission, which is probably the case for hairdressers (see Orach Chaim 243; Nodah Biyhudah
Furthermore, there is also the problem of some of the hairdressers being Jewish.
The most practical way by which the salon can be opened on Shabbos is by having a partnership with a non-Jew. This means that instead of paying one of the workers by commission, one of the hairdressers will have to receive a percentage of the profits. It will have to be publicized that the salon is co-owned by a non-Jew.
If this is done, there are two principle ways of permitting the salon’s opening on Shabbos. One is by the non-Jew partner taking the earnings of Shabbos for him/herself, and the Jewish partner taking the earnings of a different day in exchange. This is the option sanctioned by the Shulchan Aruch.
According to the Rema, it is possible to take earnings from Shabbos even when this arrangement is no made, but a special contract must be drawn up with the non-Jew.
If more details are required, or an example of a contract that can be written, please post an additional request.
