daf bit: Bava Metzia 110

[cellio]

The talmud is discussing the payment of workers' wages; the employer is responsible for paying the day laborers he hires that night (not holding their wages until morning). The g'mara raises the case of agency: if an employer tells his neighbor "go and hire me laborers" and they are not paid on time, who has transgressed? The answer appears to be that neither transgresses the commandment for prompt payment -- the employer did not himself hire them and the neighbor did not benefit from the labor. However, the neighbor is nonetheless responsible for the wages unless he said "the employer is responsible for your wages". Yehudah b. Meremar used to instruct his attendant to say this explicitly (so there would be no risk to his attendant). (110b-111a)

It seems to me that the case here must be one of uncompensated agency. If the neighbor gets a fee like the modern contract house or headhunter, I would expect that to be different because he is benefiting. That's not covered here, though.

Comments

[siderea]

It seems to me that the case here must be one of uncompensated agency. If the neighbor gets a fee like the modern contract house or headhunter, I would expect that to be different because he is benefiting.

Waitwhat.... no. If a headhunter gets me a job and the employer stiffs me, the headhunter isn't -- and shouldn't be -- liable. If a contract firm hires me to work for their client, and the contract firm stiffs me, the client isn't -- and shouldn't be -- liable; if the client stiffs them, they still have to pay me, and on time, anyways.

In other words: you need to know who your employer is. They're the only ones who have a contractual reponsibility to pay you on time.

(MA is, IIRC, a 30 day state.)

So two questions:

1) How do modern orthodox small business owners handle this rule, today?

2) Are there penulties specified for non-payment of wages? MA law is way seriously strict about it: its criminal law, and can wind the offending parties butts in jail.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Wholly off topic, a quote I saw that I thought you'd find interesting:

Rabbi Yannai ( Talmud Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 4:2) taught: "If Torah were immutable it could not have endured. Once Moses pleaded: 'Master of the Universe, reveal unto me the final truth in each problem of doctrine and law,' To which the Holy one replied: 'There are no pre-existent final truths . . . the truth is the considered judgment of the majority of authoritative interpreters in each generation.' "