Bais HaVaad on the Parsha, Parshas Re’ei

Done Deal?

August 29, 2024

Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by Dayan Yehonoson Dovid Hool

When you send him away from you free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.

Dvarim 15:7

If someone hires an employee and then reneges on the deal, the halacha depends on many factors, some of which follow.

If the employer reneges before the job commences, and the employee finds another job, ein lo alav ella tar’omess—he has nothing against him except valid cause for complaint—i.e., there is no monetary claim. The same is true if the employer finds him alternate employment, even if he refuses to accept it, because the employer can argue that the employee suffered no loss.

If the employee suffers financially due to the change, e.g., he relinquished another job to take this one, the employer must pay him, but only at the rate of a po’el batel (an idle worker), i.e., the amount of money a worker would accept to stay home and not have to work.

If the employer had obligated himself via a kinyan, or if he reneged after the job began, he must pay the worker as a po’el batel.

If the employer had to renege for reasons beyond his control (oness), he is exempt. The Gemara gives the example of a worker that was hired to water a field, and a nearby river unexpectedly flooded the field before work began. If the employer knew that flooding was possible but the employee didn’t, the agreed-upon salary must be paid.