For the source text click/tap here: Bava Metzia 112
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Paying a worker on time is a biblical commandment. In two places the Torah commands that a daily worker must be paid promptly –
Vayikra 19:13 lo talin pe’ulat sakhir itkhah ad boker – “do not retain the wages of a hired worker until the morning,” and
Devarim 24:15 be-yomo ti-ten sekharo, ve-lo yavo alav ha-shemesh – “on that day give him his wages; the sun should not set on it.”
It appears that both situations described by the Torah are cases of a wage earner – someone who gets paid by the day or by the hour. What would the halakha be for a kablan – a contractor who gets paid when he completes the job? Would the laws of lo talin and be-yomo ti-ten sekharo apply also to a contractor who finishes the job? This question was presented to Rav Sheshet, who ruled that the same laws would apply.
We continue our exploration of modern economic systems and the abuses of labor thereof.