Hello and blessings,
Yashar Koach to you for your integrity and for asking this important question.
Indeed, falsely recording work hours is a serious transgression of theft (gezel). Our sages even ruled that one working at the top of a tree is exempt from coming down to recite Shema so as not to steal time from their employer—just one example of the strict halachic stance on this issue.
However, you are not obligated to refrain from benefiting from what this person buys for you. The act of falsifying work hours is their transgression, but it does not render all their money forbidden. Avoiding the use of these items could be considered an act of extra piety (middat chassidut), but you are not required to do so. You are permitted to use the things they have bought for you.
You, Heaven forbid, are not the one stealing.
All the best, and once again, Yashar Koach for your integrity.
Yuval Cherlow
Rabbi Cherlow is the Head of the Ethics Department at the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization.
For additional reading:
• An Employee’s Obligation to Their Employer
• Someone Ate from the Nut Stand in the Supermarket—Is That Theft? Should You Say Something?
This question was originally published on the Kipa website.
