Having employee or subcontractor do job for you

Question:

Asalamu alaykum. Is service delivery/labour provision halal? What this means is you provide a person/company with labour. Like a cleaner or a security officer.

This would be done by two ways: 1) Having a direct staff to whom you pay a wage to attend your clients premises to carry out the work/s. 2) Use of a subcontractor to carry out the work/s, i.e. paying another company to carry out the work for you. (Also If subcontractor is used does this need to be mentioned to client?) Answer: ﺑﺴﻢ اﷲ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﯿﻢ In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful 1) Yes, this will be permissible. 2) Yes, it is permissible. Furthermore, if the client did not stipulate a condition that you must carry out the work yourself, then you may hire a subcontractor to perform the job, and it is not necessary to mention it to the client. Nevertheless, if informing the client of who will do the job is a requirement based on the terms agreed upon in the contract, then one should do so.1

Only Allah knows best

Written by Maulana Mohammad Ahsan Osmani Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah Darul Ifta Birmingham

1 Al-Hidaya: v. 6, p. 277 (Bushra); Mukhtasarul Qudoori: p. 349-350 (Bushra)