Sasson V’simcha Day Camp was planning an overnight trip. The director turned to Shaya, one of the counselors. “We want three extra counselors to help supervise,” he said. “We already have two. If you have a friend who wants to come as a counselor, we will pay him $200 for the trip.”

“I have a friend, Dovi, who I think would be interested,” said Shaya. “I’ll ask him when I get home.”

That evening Shaya called Dovi. “My day camp is looking for extra supervision for an overnight trip,” he said. “Would you like to come? They’re paying $250 for the trip.”

“OK, that’s fine with me,” Dovi said.

At the end of the trip, when the three additional counselors were paid, Dovi received a check for $200. He looked at the director quizzically. “Shaya told me that I would get $250!” Dovi said.

“Absolutely not,” the director replied. “We said $200. That’s what we gave the other two counselors also.”

“But Shaya told me $250,” he said. “You asked him to procure my services, so that’s what you have to pay.”

The director announced over the loud speaker: “ Shaya, please come the office now.”

“How much did you tell Dovi we would give him?” asked the director.

“I told him $250,” Shaya said. “I forgot what you said.”

“We never agreed to that,” the director said to Dovi. “We asked Shaya to find a friend, but never authorized him to decide the salary.”

Dovi then turned to Shaya. “If they pay me only $200,” he said, “then you owe me the remaining $50!”

“I never accepted any responsibility for payment,” argued Shaya. “You knew that you would get paid by the camp. You should have confirmed the salary with the director.”

“We’ve got a problem” said the director. “We said $200, but Shaya told Dovi $250, which he was not authorized to do.”

“Why don’t we call Rabbi Dayan,” suggested Shaya. “Let him decide what we should do!”

The director dialed Rabbi Dayan. “We asked a counselor to hire a friend for $200, but he told him it was $250. How much do we owe? Does the counselor owe him anything?”

“You owe the friend the going rate for the job,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “The counselor, who misled him, does not owe him anything, but the friend has rightful complaints against him.

“The Gemara (B.M. 76a),” he explained, “teaches that when an agent overstated the salary terms to the employee, the employer pays the going market rate, because the agent, who had no authority to negotiate the terms and misrepresented the employer, loses his status as an agent. Since you only agreed to pay $200, whereas the friend accepted the job with the understanding of $250, there was no valid contractual agreement between you. Thus, the employee gets paid as a worker who did not make any arrangement with the employer, which is the going market rate” (C.M. 332:1).

“What if the worker, who expected to get paid a higher salary, did a better job?” asked the director. “For example, a contractor who used higher quality materials or put more effort into the finishing. It’s not fair that he should get the going rate of a standard quality job.”

“That is true,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “If the quality of his job is clearly worth more, then the employer — who received the benefit of superior quality — would have to pay the value of such work” (Shach 332:8).

“Why does the counselor not owe anything?” asked the director? “And what did you say about ‘rightful complaints’?”

“The counselor does not owe anything, since he clearly indicated that he takes no personal responsibility for the salary,” concluded Rabbi Dayan. “However, the friend has a rightful complaint against him, since he could have sought a better-paying job had he known the true salary” (Sma 332:4).

 “Why does the counselor not owe anything?” asked the director? “And what did you say about ‘rightful complaints’?”

“The counselor does not owe anything, since he clearly indicated that he takes no personal responsibility for the salary,” concluded Rabbi Dayan. “However, the friend has a rightful complaint against him, since he could have sought a better-paying job had he known the true salary” (Sma 332:4).