As Pesach approached, housewives throughout the neighborhood buzzed with activity. Mrs. Klein emptied cabinets, wiped down shelves, and vacuumed the bedrooms.
David offered his services to help with the seasonal rush. “Eight hours of Pesach cleaning for $300,” he told people.
Mrs. Klein decided to hire him. “What I need done today is my living room and dining room,” she said. “Do you think you can do that in one day?”
“I expect so,” David said. “I’m very efficient!”
David arrived at 9 a.m. and got straight to work. He vacuumed carefully along the baseboards, cleaned the crevices in the couches, polished the vitrine and windows, and washed down the table and chairs. At 3 p.m., he stepped back and looked around with satisfaction.
“All done!” he announced.
Mrs. Klein looked around the freshly cleaned room. “You finished already?!” she asked, surprised.
“Yes,” David replied. “Six hours did the job.”
Mrs. Klein nodded appreciatively. “You worked very nicely!” she said. “Since the work took only six hours instead of eight, I’ll pay you proportionately: $225.”
David shook his head. “I set aside the whole day for this job,” he explained politely. “It’s too late for me to do another job today. I expected payment for the full eight hours.”
Mrs. Klein frowned slightly. “I can give you more work, then,” she said. “You could do the den, vacuum the car, or even start cleaning the stove and oven for Pesach.”
David hesitated. “That wasn’t what we agreed on,” he said. “I came just to do the living room and dining room.”
Mrs. Klein replied, “It doesn’t seem fair that I should pay you for two idle hours when there’s still work that could be done!”
Unable to resolve the issue, they called Rabbi Dayan. Mrs. Klein asked:
“Do I have to pay David for the remaining two hours or can I assign him alternate work?”
“The Gemara (B.M. 77a) teaches that if someone hired a worker for the day and he finished the initial job in the middle of the day, the employer can give him alternate work that is easier or equivalent in difficulty, but not work that is harder,” replied Rabbi Dayan.
“Shulchan Aruch (C.M. 335:1) qualifies that this applies when the employer hired the worker for specific work, but if he initially hired him for the day without specifying the work, he can then give him an even more difficult task, since he could have assigned him that work from the beginning (Sma 335:3).
Furthermore, Shulchan Aruch infers from the Gemara that if the employer does not have alternate work to provide, he does not have to pay the worker’s full rate for the remaining hours, since the worker does not have to toil anymore and now has free time. The employer pays him only as a po’el batel (idle worker), which some evaluate as half-price, unless the worker is one for whom idling is detrimental and he would much prefer to work (Taz C.M. 333:1; Pischei Choshen, Sechirus 10:[10]).
Rema (ibid.) adds that the employer can subcontract him to someone else who has similar work available.
Rema further cites an opinion (Mordechai B.M. #346) that if the employer has more difficult work but is willing to add to the salary commensurately, he can instruct the worker to do that. (See, however, Rema C.M. 333:2, who cites two opinions in a similar case.)
If the worker refuses to do the alternate comparable work, to work for others, or to do the more difficult work for additional salary, he is entitled to payment for what he did, but not for the remainder of the day, even as a po’el batel (Aruch HaShulchan 335:3; Chazon Ish B.K. 23:14;).
“Thus, other household cleaning is comparable,” concluded Rabbi Dayan, “and you can assign David to do that instead, whereas cleaning the stove is more difficult work, and you can instruct him to do it only if you will add to the salary commensurately. If you had no alternate work, you would have to pay David for the remaining hours only as a po’el batel.”
Verdict: Mrs. Klein can offer easier or comparable work for the remaining hours, and, according to some, even more difficult work for additional pay. If David refuses, she does not have to pay for the remaining hours. If she has no alternate work, she must pay him only as a po’el batel.