Giving an incentive to shop employees
Question:-
A person supplies wholesalers with his product. The employees in the stores pack the product on the shelf, and,as the shelf gets empty, they continue to fill it up. Generally, each aisle has one employee allocated to it. Mufti Sahib might be aware that it is the norm for those that supply the stores, to give the person in-charge of packing the aisle which their products are on, a R50 or R100 etc, every month. This is done to make him happy, so that he ensures the shelf is always packed, and is in a presentable manner; that the price sticker is visible etc. This person asks the managers of the stores if he can give the shelf-packer some money, and the managers allow it. So far, what I have mentioned seems to be permissible, because we are paying the employees of the stores to do the work that their employers had hired them to do, and to encourage them not to shirk their responsibility, because if they do so, it will harm the sale of our products as well.
My question is:
1. When giving the money to the shelf-packer and telling him to make sure the shelf is always packed neatly, he generally replies by saying that he is going to tell the customers to buy our product. This statement of his can have one of two meanings:
A. If a customer has to ask him where a particular product is kept, then he will point out our brand to the customer, instead of pointing out any other brand.
B. If he notices a customer picking another brand, he will promote our product and tell the customer to try it out.
In this situation, when the shelf-packer replies in this way to me, then I don’t tell him not to do so, neither do I tell him to do so; I just keep quiet. Is this permissible? And sometimes, the shelf-packer clearly says that he is going to promote our brand. In this situation, if I keep quiet, will it be permissible? Or, will it be my duty to tell him that he hasn’t been employed to promote my product, he should just make sure the shelf is packed neatly?
2. Will it be permissible for me to give the shelf-packer money and ask him to promote our product? And for every case that gets sold in the store, we will give him R10. Therefore,he will try to convince the customers to buy our product. If I have to do so, with the permission of the manager (we don’t always have access to the owners of the stores), will it be permissible?
Answer:-
1. The job of the packer is to ensure that the shelves are always filled, and not to promote any brand for any supplier. If he promotes any brand from his side, without you instructing or encouraging him to do so, then it will be considered as his personal action, for which you are not responsible. It will be better that you respond to him by saying that he should pack all the shelves well for the owner instead of keeping silent, as your silence could indicate approval, which is incorrect. Employees promoting products for suppliers during employment hours is tantamount to deception.
2. If the shop owner consents to it, then you may pay a commission to the employee otherwise not. The employer has purchased the employment time from the employee; hence, it is not permissible for him to carry out any task other than that which the employer has hired him for. The attitude of one shop owner is not necessarily the attitude of other shop owners, hence, permission from every shop owner is required.
ALLAH TA’ALA KNOWS BEST!
ANSWERED BY:
Mufti Mohammed Desai
Date: 19 Shabaan 1444 / 12 March 2023