20180707 (Sat)
Agency vs marriage vs employment. What are the differences?
Agency can be quite confusing when it is masked with employment or even marriage. The simplest thing to understand agency is two parties (can be individual or company) come to an agreement to do something with the authority of the principal entrusted to his agent in dealing with a third party. The third party is taken as directly contracted with the principal as he deals with this agent.
So, when a salesperson is promoting the product of his company, he is entrusted to sell this product as if the company sells directly to the customer. His delivery of the information is taken as if it is from the company. However, he cannot contract the company to buy stock or even a tin of milk for cafeteria as supply for all staff. Even when he is a financial controller of the company, he still cannot sign a cheque authorizing salary payment. That is the authority of the Human Resource Director, or Chief Executive Director of the company.
Husband and wife, in the context agency really does not mean much. Husband who is the owner of the company, might not be the true principal. Rather, the wife who is running the business would have ostensible or apparent authority no matter what.
The question of who listen to who is rather subjective in such context. An employee cannot be acting without authority from the employer. A wife can act irrespective of whether her husband in fact, had authorized her. So, in the most strict sense, estate agency stays in between these two extremes. You have more authority to the employee but less than a wife.
Continue tomorrow.