There is a Torah obligation to pay one’s employees on time, a command issued by the Torah in two different verses. In the Book of Vayikra (19:13), the Torah writes, "Lo Talin Pe’ulat Sachir Itecha Ad Boker" – "Do not withhold the wages of a hired employee until morning." In Debarim (24:15), we read, "Lo Tabo Alav He’shemesh" – "The sun should not set for him [before receiving his wages]," and in that same verse it is written, "Be’yomo Titen Secharo" – "You shall give him his wages that day."
The Sages explain that these two verses refer to different situations. When the Torah warns against withholding wages "until morning," it refers to a day laborer, who is hired to work during the daytime hours. The employer in such a case has until the next morning to pay his workers. The other verse, which requires paying by sundown, refers to a case of employees hired to work at night. These workers must receive their wages by sundown the next day.
The Sefer Ha’hinuch (anonymous Medieval work listing the 613 Misvot and their reasons) offers an explanation for why the Torah does not require paying wages immediately, and instead allows the employer an entire night or an entire day before being required to pay. Workers need their salaries in order to buy food, and in ancient times (and even nowadays on certain occasions) people were accustomed to fasting. A 12-hour period is thus an acceptable duration of time to be without food, as this constitutes a kind of "fast." Beyond that period, however, the laborer needs to purchase food, and thus employers may not delay payment longer than that.
The Hafetz Haim (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933), in the introduction to the ninth chapter of Ahabat Hesed, emphasizes that the Misva of paying wages must be treated like any other Torah obligation, such as eating Masa on Pesah and taking the Lulab on Sukkot. He writes that when one pays his employees, he should have in mind that he wishes to fulfill the Torah command of paying wages. The Pele Yoetz (Rav Eliezer Papo, Bulgaria, 1786-1827) writes that it is worthwhile to hire workers if only to have the opportunity to fulfill this Misva of paying wages.
The Rambam, in Hilchot Sechirut (11:2), writes that one who fails to pay his workers on time transgresses four Torah obligations. It is therefore worthwhile to study the details and intricacies of this Misva and understand the precise parameters of an employer’s obligations toward his employees, so that we can fulfill this Misva properly.
