Rights related to employment

In regards to work and employment, Islam introduced principles and guidelines which define the relationship between the employer and the employed. The Rights of the Employed Islam enjoins that the relationship between employer and employee should be based upon principles of brotherhood, equality and dignity. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “Your servants are your brothers whom Allah has placed under your authority. Whoever has his brother under his authority, let him feed him from what he eats and clothe him with what he wears. Let him not burden him with more than he can bear, and if you do, then help him.” [al-Bukhari] Islam has guaranteed their right to receive wages. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) narrated from Allah (swt) that He said: “I will stand against three types of people on the Day of Requital: a person who swears by Me and then betrays his oath, a person who sells a free person and eats the money he gains from it, and a person who hired a workman, takes his full due [of work] from him but does not give him his right (his wages).” [al-Bukhari] It also orders that the wages be negotiated before work begins. In a Hadeethcollected by Ahmad, the Prophet (Peace be upon him)forbade hiring a workman before negotiating his wages. Islam also commands that wages be paid immediately after the task has been completed. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “Pay the workman his wages before his sweat dries.” [ibn Majaah] They are not to be given more work than they can bear; if he is given more than he can bear, than he should be given extra wages or help. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “Let him also not burden him with more than he can bear, and if you do, then help him.” [al-Bukhari] In order to raise the honor and dignity of labor, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said that it was the best and most pure of earnings, if done through permissible means. The Prophet (Peace be upon him)said: “No person has eaten better food than that which [was bought from the wages which] his own hands toiled. Indeed David (u), the Prophet of Allah, ate from what his own hands earned.” [al-Bukhari] To encourage manual labor, the Prophet (Peace be upon him)said: “By Him in Whose Hands is my soul, if one of you goes and chops wood, ties it, and carries it on his back, it is better for him than to beg people, whether they give him money or not.” [al-Bukhari]