Question:
Shalom uVrachah thanks for your wonderful website two related similar questions please:
1. The supermarket usually offers a Motzaei Shabbos discount on fresh chicken because the date of expiry means it has now a short shelf life. One Motzaei Shabbos I asked the cashier about the discount and he said that the front desk did not advertise it this week but at his discretion he will give the discount and using his employee card he discounted the chicken. Is this permitted? Obviously the card he has allows him to give such discounts and this is common policy, however in this case is it really up to him to do so? Is there a difference if the business is owned by Jew or Gentile?
Second scenario an employee is under contract to work 8 hours a day but those hours are not clocked or tracked in any way. He is paid a flat monthly salary no matter how many actual house he works. No employee works more than six hours. This employee felt dishonest and approached his manager/boss and asked him if this was an issue. The boss/manager was taken aback as no one else had ever mentioned this discrepancy, but he said its OK. Is that really OK, does the manager have authority discretion to say/do this? Does it make any difference that if the employee does push to work 8 hours he might cause his manager to lose his job/be reprimanded and in turn be fired? Be hated by other employees as a goody goody? Does it matter if the business is owned by Jew or Gentile?
Thanks for your help with these 2 real life matters
Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for the compliment, they are very much appreiciated. Regarding your questions.
- You can take the discount. We can assume in this situation that the employee has the authority to make such a decision, as he knows he policies of the store, and the boss relies on him. When he hired him, he understood that he will be making certain decisions, that will affect the profit of the store. This would apply whether the owner of the store is Jewish or a non-Jew.
- The manager of the store is delegated the authority to make decisions in the store, and is authorized to make the relevant decisions. Therefore, you can rely on what he says. The worker’s being honest is not going to get the manager in to trouble, unless the worker goes to his boss, but under normal circumstances if you are doing your job honestly, the manager nor the other workers are going to mind, as long as you aren’t snitching on them.
Best wishes
