Their employer has not paid their salaries for months

6-5-2010 | IslamWeb

Question:

1. If we are working for a company and the company didnot pay the salary for 3 months, what shall we do. what is the islam/Shariah views regarding this? Shall we ask the employer regularly to pay the salary or we have to wait untill they pay us. 2. I have completed my 1 year contract with the company now i want to ask for increament, is it allowed to ask for increament in islam. 3. If a company donot have much work and the employees finishing the work in a limited time, after that they are leaving office before the time, that is employees are notcoming to the office for their contract period and getting the full salary. Is it halaal ?

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

 

It is permissible for you to ask your employer to pay your salaries and he is not permitted to procrastinate. According to the Sharee’ah commands we should pay the employee before his sweat dries off from work, as a way of stressing to hasten to fulfill the terms of the contract. Also, there are texts about a severe threat and warning about wronging the employee. Abu Hurayrah  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him narrated that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “Allaah said: ‘I will be the opponent to three kinds of people on the Day of Judgment’, and he mentioned amongst them: ‘and a man who hires an employee and takes full work from him but does not pay him for his work’.”  

It is also permissible for you to ask for a pay rise, and if the employer agrees then this is what is required, otherwise you have the right not to renew the contract after the present contract between both of you comes to an end.

As regards the employees leaving work before the end of the official work time, then it is not permissible for them to do so without the permission of the employer, and the latter has the right to deduct from their salary the amount equal to the number of hours that they did not work as they do not deserve any fees for it because an employee is obliged to abide by the terms and conditions of the contract that he signed with his employer as Allaah Says (what means): {O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts.}[Quran 5:1] Among this is that he should be present during the working hours that are agreed upon and he should fulfill the work in the manner that is agreed upon between them. Any behavior that is not in accordance to this is a breach of the contract and it is not permissible without the permission of the employer.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 124879 and 127380.

Allaah Knows best.

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