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Can I lie and show my hours of work more than actually I do whilst I am being paid on per-hour basis?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by AskOurImam.com

As-Salamu Alaikum

I have a question about billing the client for the days I was on leave.

Details:

I work in an IT company. We have an American client. The client pays for the number of people working on the project, on a per-hour basis.

My project team includes 2 people – me and a team mate.

We have to fill in timesheets, which document the number of hours we worked and what we worked on. One is my company`s timesheet and the other is my client’s timesheet.

When I take a leave, I enter the subsequent number of hours as “on leave” in my company`s timesheet. But, as per instructions from my project manager and senior managers, we don`t enter this info in our client`s timesheet and bill them for those days too (the client timesheet has the provision for entering “on leave” too). We are also not supposed to mention our leaves to the client and to lie when someone is absent.

I feel this is wrong, but matters are complicated by the following facts:

  • We don`t bill the client if we work extra hours or days, unless the client specifically requests that people work extra hours (i.e. we complete the work regardless of hours).
  • When someone is on leave, their work is taken on by the other and the work is completed by the deadline specified to the client. Sometimes, members from other teams (working for the same client) also put in extra work to help meet this team`s deadline.
  • My client has many other projects with us. The company puts in more people on the project than the ones that the client pays for, i.e. the company does not charge the client for these extra people but they work full-time on the client`s project. These people are salaried employees of our company. Note: there are no such “non-billable” people in my project; we are a team of two, both billable.

Please let me know what I must do in such a situation

Was-Salaam

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

  1. If you had entered into an agreement with your client that you will be paid on a per-hour basis[1], you are entitled to the remuneration from the client for the amount of hours you have submitted yourself to the work for the client regardless of the type and load of work[2].
  2. It is not permissible to show more hours than actually worked for and thus claim remuneration for extra hours[3]. The time at work is Amaanah (trust) and deception and lies in trust are impermissible[4].
  3. The additional money you receive from the client due to lying by showing your attendance whilst you are “on leave” is not permitted for you to consume[5] and consequently should be returned to the client. If this is not possible, then the money should be given in Sadaqah to the poor people without intending for reward[6].

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Hanif Yusuf Patel

Student Darul Iftaa
UK

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

www.daruliftaa.net

References
[1] والإجارة لاتخلو من وجهين: اما ان تقع على وقت معلوم او على عمل معلوم

[An-Nutaf fi al-Fatawa, 2: 558]

[2] فان وقعت على عمل معلوم فلا تجب الاجرة الا باتمام العمل اذا كان العمل مما لا يصلح اوله إلا بآخره وان كان يصلح اوله دون آخره فتجب الاجرة بمقدار ما عمل واذا وقعت على وقت معلوم فتجب الاجرة بمضي الوقت ان هو استعمله او لم يستعمله وبمقدار ما مضى من الوقت تجب الاجرة

[An-Nutaf fi al-Fatawa, p.338, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah; Radd al-Muhtar ala ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, 6: 69-70, H. M. Saeed Company]; al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah, 4: 416, Maktabah Rashidiyah]

[Fatawa Mahmoddiyah, 16: 572, Dar al-Iftaa Jamiah Farooqiyah]

[3] إذا استأجر يوما للحصاد أو للخدمة فحصد في بعض اليوم أو خدم لغيره لا يستحق الأحر كاملا

[Fatawa al-Walwalijiyyah, 3:331, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, In Dar al-Uloom Zakariya, 5: 636, Zamzam Publishers]

[Fatawa Mahmodiyyah, 16: 573]

(قوله وليس للخاص أن يعمل لغيره) بل ولا أن يصلي النافلة. قال في التتارخانية: وفي فتاوى الفضلي وإذا استأجر رجلا يوما يعمل كذا فعليه أن يعمل ذلك العمل إلى تمام المدة ولا يشتغل بشيء آخر سوى المكتوبة وفي فتاوى سمرقند: وقد قال بعض مشايخنا له أن يؤدي السنة أيضا. واتفقوا أنه لا يؤدي نفلا وعليه الفتوى. وفي غريب الرواية قال أبو علي الدقاق: لا يمنع في المصر من إتيان الجمعة، ويسقط من الأجير بقدر اشتغاله إن كان بعيدا، وإن قريبا لم يحط شيء فإن كان بعيدا واشتغل قدر ربع النهار يحط عنه ربع الأجرة. (قوله ولو عمل نقص من أجرته إلخ) قال في التتارخانية: نجار استؤجر إلى الليل فعمل لآخر دواة بدرهم وهو يعلم فهو آثم، وإن لم يعلم فلا شيء عليه وينقص من أجر النجار بقدر ما عمل في الدواة

[Radd al-Muhtar ala ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, 6: 70, H. M. Saeed Company]

[4] انّ الله يأمركم أن تؤدّوا الأمانات إلى أهلها، وإذا حكمتم بين الناس أن تحكموا بالعدل، إن الله نعمّا يعظكم به، إن الله كان سميعا بصيرا

[Al-Qur`an, 4: 58]

[5] عن أبى حرة الرقاشى عن عمّه رضي الله عنه قال:قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ألا لا تظلموا ، ألا لا يحلّ مال امرئ إلا بطيب نفس منه

[Mishkat al-Masabih ma`a Mirqat al-Mafatih, 5: 1974, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut]

[6] ويردّونها على أربابها إن عرفوهم، وإلا تصدقوا بها؛ لأن سبيل الكسب الخبيث التصدق إذا تعذر الرد على صاحبه

[Radd al-Muhtar ala ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, 6: 385, H. M. Saeed Company]

This answer was collected from AskOurImam.com, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Hanif Yusuf Patel. He graduated from Jamiatul Ilm Wal Huda, Blackburn, U.K, with a distinction in Alimiyyah degree. He thereafter travelled to Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah Durban, South Africa, to train as a Mufti under the tutelage of Mufti Ebrahim Desai and Mufti Husain Kadodia.

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