Advice to Employees on Consistency in Work and the Ruling on the Salary

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this question is from one of the brothers who encourages speaking on it. He says: Honorable Shaykh, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. After that, I love you in Allah, and those present, and there is no doubt that this blessed gathering is not without many employees. Naturally, an employee receives a monthly salary in exchange for his job. Is there a word regarding urging the employee to be consistent in his work so that his earnings are lawful and blessed? This blessed gathering needs that word. May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
May Allah bless you and increase us and you in love for Him. As for the advice to employees, there is no doubt that the employee’s time has been purchased from him; his time has been purchased in exchange for the salary paid to him. Therefore, it is not lawful for him to take from the salary except what corresponds to the work he performs.
So he must preserve his time at work, and he must occupy his time with work to the best of his ability, because he is a hired worker and a trustee of his work and of the Muslims who come to him to complete their affairs. He must fear Allah the Exalted and Perfect, perfect his work, preserve the time, and be just among the people who contact him to complete their affairs. If he is among those in charge of departments or offices, he must be just among the people and not prefer a rich person because of his wealth or a relative because of his kinship. Rather, he must be just among the Muslims equally, not being unjust to anyone, not showing favoritism to anyone, and not wasting his time in anything other than work, except for a legitimate excuse permitted by the system. A legitimate excuse is permissible, but without an excuse, if it is due to his negligence, wasting time, or imitating others who do not care about their trust, that is not permissible. A person must fear Allah the Exalted and Perfect and know that from the beginning of the workday to the end of the workday, all this time has been purchased from him in exchange for the salary he takes, and that every penny of his salary is in exchange for a part of the work time, which is not lawful for him except to the extent of the work he performed and was sincere in. And success is from Allah.