Request for shift changes that will lead people to work on Shabbat
peace,
I work in security and I am the only one at the place who keeps Shabbat. There are morning, afternoon and night shifts at the place. On Thursdays and Fridays, the person in charge publishes a schedule of shifts for the coming week, and what is common is that people request changes due to all sorts of constraints. The question is, am I allowed to request changes that would change shifts that are on Shabbat and affect others because of this. For example, if I am assigned on Friday morning and I prefer to be on Saturday night – if I ask to change that, then someone who was not supposed to work on Shabbat will work on Shabbat. Or for example, this week he did not assign me on Saturday night, maybe because he forgot or for some other reason, and if I ask to be on Saturday night, then maybe he will move the person who is currently on Saturday night to work at noon, and if I did not ask, he would not move him and he would not work on Shabbat. Thank you very much, I hope the question was understandable.
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Hello,
Thanks for the answer.
The work is in a high-tech company building that is also connected to the security system. But it's not like in the army where there are orders/procedures for observing Shabbat and things are tailored to a soldier who observes Shabbat. In the company's building, everything is basically like a weekday – the elevators work, the computers work, etc.’. There are no changes from weekday to Shabbat. That's why I never work on Shabbat (I requested this as a condition of working for the company before the first day).
If that was a condition, then what is the question?
Let's assume there is such an assignment:
Friday 07:00 – 15:00 I
Friday 15:00 – 23:00 Sun’
Friday 23:00 – 07:00 Mon’
Saturday 07:00 – 15:00 Tu’
Saturday 15:00 – 23:00 We’
Saturday 23:00 – 07:00 I
Let's say mine works better on Friday from 07:00 to 12:00 and not until 15:00 and I ask to make such a change, then the person in charge can change the assignment and put someone in my place from 12:00 to 20:00, and move A’ who was supposed to start at 15:00 to 20:00 and all sorts of other changes.
So it turns out that someone who comes in my place from 12:00 to 20:00 might not have done this shift if I hadn't asked, and it turns out that A’ would have to travel on Shabbat to arrive and if I hadn't asked for a change, he would have arrived at 15:00, which is before Shabbat.
And there are all sorts of other different examples where if I ask for changes on a weekend, then it causes others to work on Shabbat. So the question is whether it's okay for me to ask for all sorts of changes or that I'm not allowed to ask for anything so that it doesn't happen that people work on Shabbat because of me.
I didn't follow all the details here. There's no problem with swapping if somehow one desecrates Shabbat. If because of the swap someone commits unnecessary Shabbat desecration (which would not have been done without it), then it's forbidden.
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