Mitzvos Relating to Our Fellow Man

32: Timely Payments to Employees

"On that day you shall give his payment..." (Devarim 24:15)

We are obligated to pay our workers on time.

The Rambam teaches that withholding payment is considered like bloodshed (Hilchos Sechirus 11:2). The Meshech Chochmah (on the above verse) teaches that paying a worker on time is a greater mitzvah than giving tzedakah because it is providing the person's livelihood in the most honorable way. The Chafetz Chaim teaches that one should pay a worker on time with the same commitment and dedication that he fulfills the mtizvos of tefillin, mezuzah, or shofar (Ahavas Chesed, sec. 1, prefact to ch. 9).

Text Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Moshe Goldberger and Torah.org.