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Fatwa CenterActivity of employee governed by contract with employer
Question
A person works for a private company as a professioanal engineer. In return for his service, the company gives him a salary once every month. Regardless of whether he comes late or earlier, and whether he goes home late or earlier, the company gives him the same salary, unlike wages, which are counted for every hour that one is present. He does his work very well and occasionally uses some time for his personal activity. Is this permissible? During his work trips, he is ordered to stay in a particular city for several days and gets a financial compensation for this. If he still has something left, the company usually does not ask about it and hso e takes it for himself. Is this permissible? Also, during his stay at a hotel (which is compensated by the company), he uses the hotel's Wi-Fi. If we assume that he does the job well and that neither the hotel nor the company cares, can he do so? Lastly, if after finishing his job he has some remaining time before he should return and spends money on buying a souvenir, is it permissible? Thank you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The reference in this regard is the nature of the contract between the employee and the employer and the activities in which the employee is permitted to engage during the working hours (according to the contract). There is no harm if the contract does not require the employee to strictly abide by the working hours and allows him to come late, leave work early, or engage in personal activities during the working hours. Otherwise, the basic principle is that the employee is considered an Ajeer Khaas (a hired worker, who is contracted by one party to perform a specific task in a pre-defined amount of time), and his time and effort during the agreed-upon working hours should be exclusively spent in carrying out the specified tasks. In principle, the employee must abide by the working hours and it is impermissible for him to come late or leave early during the working hours or engage in personal activities unless authorized by the employer or it is (customarily) accepted by the company.
As for the travel allowance paid to the employee and the remainder of it after covering the travel expenses, the reference in this regard is the system and conditions set by the company. If the company offers this allowance to the employee as his personal property regardless of the actual expenses, then there is no harm on him to spend what remains after covering the travel expenses.
As for using the hotel Wi-Fi, we fear that asking about it might be some kind of blameworthy Takalluf (overburdening oneself with undue duties). It is clear that there is no harm in using the hotel Wi-Fi as long as the company does not prevent it.
Likewise, there is no harm in buying souvenirs and personal items as long as the company does not forbid the employee from doing so.
Allah knows best.
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