Paying a babysitter for Shabbos work
I have an hour walk to the Mikvah Friday night. So we want to hire a babysitter so my husband can walk with me. How can we pay her for this “work” done on Shabbos?
One may not accept schar Shabbos (payment for work done on Shabbos). Even though one is being paid after Shabbos, it is nevertheless forbidden since the work is being done on Shabbos.
Accepting payment for babysitting on Shabbos falls under the category of schar Shabbos. However, schar Shabbos behavla’ah (when “absorbed” with other payment) is permissible, but only if all of the following conditions are met:
The babysitter must be paid for babysitting done during the week or month, and not solely for babysitting on Shabbos. If either employee or employer have the right to opt out of the agreement, and the employee would then get paid pro rata (proportionally), it doesn’t qualify as schar Shabbos behavla’ah, even if it includes payment for weekdays.
In your specific case you should hire the babysitter to work at least a hour before shabbos and have it considered one job (before Shabbos and after Shabbos), and make up to pay for the whole job not per hour, and that neither the employee nor the employer have the right to opt out of the agreement.
Sources:
אדה”ז סימן רמ”ג סעיף יב סימן שו סעיף ט.
#10438
Does opt out include backing out if something urgent or out of the ordinary came up?
One is not allowed to opt out when the job started.
If something comes up the agreement has to be :either to get paid the full amount or get paid nothing, however, before the job started either one can opt out.