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Unless they will agree to paint the house red, do not hire them.

I don't want to bother you for a ride to Boston, unless you'll be driving there anyway.

I don't understand why both subordinate clauses are future. I thought that it was not possible to use "will" with "unless".

It sounds better to me to say:

I won't bother you for a ride to Boston, unless you drive / are driving there anyway.

and

Unless they agree to paint the house red, do not hire them.

Why is the future tense used in the examples at the top? Is it because the two main clauses are present and do not relate to the future, so if it wasn't phrased like that, we might think these sentences take place in the present (which is not true)?

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    It (this usage of will) is not exactly about the future; it's about volition, i.e. "will" (or willingness). An example of a related use in conditionals: "If you will come this way, I'll show you the room."
    – Damkerng T.
    Commented May 1, 2015 at 14:21
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    @Damkerng T. Yes, but the use of will here still refers to future time. And I am the one who originally wrote the sentences this question asks about.
    – user6951
    Commented May 1, 2015 at 16:33
  • Yet @user5577 please see this meta question about what you should or can do to get your question answered.
    – user6951
    Commented May 2, 2015 at 15:20

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you will be driving there anyway

is quite different from

you will drive there

The clause that comes after unless must be a definite statement about the world against which we can measure the world, so that we can decide whether the world measures up to the statement. The statement must be true or false.

you will be driving there anyway is such a definite statement. It's possible for that statement to be true or false: in any case, you will be driving there.

you will drive there is not a definite statement. It expresses the future or an intention. A statement concerning the future, expressed in the future tense, is neither true nor false.

So we say:

We will go to the beach if it is sunny tomorrow.

but do not say:

We will go to the beach if it will be sunny tomorrow. [not ok]

We say:

I won't go to the beach unless it is sunny tomorrow.

but we do not say:

I won't go to the beach unless it will be sunny tomorrow. [not ok]

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