Mr. Adler was an accountant. He was approached by a Torah institution, whose records from the last year were in disarray due to significant changes in personnel and secretarial staffing. They asked him to make order of their books.
“I’m happy to take the job,” Mr. Adler said. “Do you prefer that I bill by the hour or a global sum?”
“I prefer a global sum,” replied the institution’s director, Mr. Neuman. “This way we can budget the sum more readily.”
“Then let’s meet, and work out the projected extent of the job,” Mr. Adler said. “Then I can give you a price quote.”
Mr. Neuman and Mr. Adler met. “These are our books,” said Mr. Neuman, “but there’s a whole box of additional records and receipts that needs to be gone over.”
Mr. Adler looked over the books quickly, and the additional box. He discussed with Mr. Neuman approximately how much time would be involved.
“Based on what you showed me, and my evaluation of the time needed,” Mr. Adler said, “I can offer a global price of $5,000 for the job.”
“That seems fair enough,” replied Mr. Neuman. “Go ahead with the job!”
Mr. Adler began working. However, he found that the work went much faster than expected, and the box of receipts proved less formidable than it initially seemed. All in all, the job took only about 60% of the time he had estimated.
“I wondered if it’s fair to charge the institution the full $5,000,” Mr. Adler wondered. “I certainly don’t want to cheat a Torah institution!”
Mr. Adler called Rabbi Dayan and asked:
“Am I entitled to charge the full $5,000 salary?”
“A person who contracts an employee is required to pay him the stipulated amount, even if the value of the work changes during the term of the employment,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “This is similar to a rental contract, which is binding even if real estate prices fluctuate during the rental term” (Pischei Choshen, Sechirus 8:17).
“However, if the original price was unfair, there can be an ona’ah (unfair pricing) claim in certain situations. There is a distinction in this between a po’el (time-based) and kablan (flat-fee) worker. A po’el, who commits his time and is thereby bound to the employer, has an element of servitude, which is compared to real estate, regarding which there is generally no ona’ah claim. However, a kablan, who is fully independent and is just responsible for the final product, is not compared in this way, so that ona’ah generally applies, even if the aggrieved party did not claim the ona’ah promptly (C.M 227:33,36).
Moreover, if the work turns out significantly different than described, Aruch Hashulchan (C.M. 333:7) writes that the aggrieved party is entitled to the difference according to the evaluation of experts. For example, someone was hired to weave material, but the thread was poor quality, which made the weaving much more difficult than usual. It seems, though, that he is talking about a situation in which the employer misled the worker (Pischei Choshen, Sechirus 8:[40]).
Presumably, the same would be true in the opposite case, where the worker misled the employee and exaggerated the extent of the work — the employer should be entitled to a discount according to the evaluation of experts.
However, if the kablan himself misjudged the job in his price quote, and there were more expenses and effort than projected, Pischei Choshen (Sechirus 8:[2]; Ona’ah 10:[10]) writes that he cannot demand additional payment. Only if something new occurred in a manner that he had no way of anticipating, and certainly if there was something that the employer neglected to notify him about, it is possible that it is considered a mekach ta’us (mistaken transaction) and he may ask for more.
Conversely, it stands to reason that if the employer misjudged the work and offered more pay than necessary, or if the worker honestly overestimated the work in the price quote and the employer accepted it, the employer may not reduce the pay.
“Thus,” concluded Rabbi Dayan, “because you estimated the job in good faith together with the director, you are entitled to the full $5,000.”
Verdict: A price quote in good faith is binding, even if the job proved different than estimated. However, if one side misled the other, Aruch Hashulchan writes that the differential should be evaluated by experts.
Based on writings of Harav Chaim Kohn, shlita
