Question:
My friend agreed to work for me doing driving and some moving, but he insists on getting paid from pick up to drop off.
Is he able to demand such an unheard of arrangement?
Answer:
Hello,
From the wording of your question, I am assuming that he demanded this arrangement before starting to work for you. Before two people enter an agreement, they are entitled to agree on whatever they would like, (as long as it is within the halacha), on the other hand you don’t have to agree to this, and can find someone else.
Best wishes
Actually he demanded this afterwards claiming that this is the custom and the halacha, which is the basis for my question.
He even wanted to get paid for time not working such as learning, saying tehillim, davening, eating, etc.
He claimed that there are lawyers and executives who are flown all over the world for various business operations, and that they are also getting paid for their time traveling.
I do not know at this time how to verify this claim, or the relevance to this case.
My question is a very sound one, it is unheard of for a worker to be paid for the time it takes for him to get to the place of work, or for the return trip.
In this case, I was taking him in the same car service as myself to save him the time and expense.
Most workers today have to clock in with an id card, until then, they do not get paid.
For example, in Manhattan there is a very large frum business called B&H, which hires a fleet of buses to bring hundreds of workers daily from Boro Park and Williamsburg, etc, and none of them get paid for the traveling time.
They also have buildings elsewhere.
He also claimed that if he was only driving, then it is self understood that the driver can do what he wants and get paid for the entire time from pickup to dropoff.
Recently I hired him to rent a car and to drive me on a yartzeit, and after he dropped me off at the cemetery, he decided to drive away to find a place where he could buy a coffee.
So for that my question is since it was a rented car, which adds charges for gas and mileage, why should I have to pay for his “coffee trip?”
Being that it was not agreed upon before he was hired then it goes according to the local customs, of how workers are paid. He can not bring any proof from lawyers who are paid for a business trip as this takes several days and they lose many business hours. Besides, if that is the way that it works in that industry, it doesn’t mean this is the way it works for drivers, and people doing deliveries. does the MTA and other companies pay their drivers, from the time they leave the house or from when they arrive at work?
Regarding getting paid for waiting time, again it depends on the local customs, how much a driver gets paid for waiting time.
Hatzlocha
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