Jewish Guide to Fairtrade: Treatment of Workers

Part two of five text and discussion sheets included within the Jewish Guide to Fairtrade - which can be found in full here.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15

לֹא תַעֲשֹׁק שָׂכִיר עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן מֵאַחֶיךָ אוֹ מִגֵּרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בְּאַרְצְךָ בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ: בְּיוֹמוֹ תִתֵּן שְׂכָרוֹ וְלֹא תָבוֹא עָלָיו הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ כִּי עָנִי הוּא וְאֵלָיו הוּא נֹשֵׂא אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ וְלֹא יִקְרָא עָלֶיךָ אֶל ה' וְהָיָה בְךָ חֵטְא:

Deuteronomy.24.14-15

You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the strangers who are in your land inside your gates; At his day you shall give him his wages, nor shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and his life depends upon it; lest he cry against you to the Lord and it be a sin for you. [translation by Artscroll, adapted]

Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 76b

בבא מציעא ע״ו ב:ג׳-ד׳

דתניא: השוכר את האומנין והטעו את בעל הבית, או בעל הבית הטעה אותן - אין להם זה על זה אלא תרעומת. במה דברים אמורים - שלא הלכו, אבל הלכו חמרים ולא מצאו תבואה, פועלין ומצאו שדה כשהיא לחה - נותן להן שכרן משלם,

Bava Metzia 76b:3-4

As it has been taught: If someone hired artisans and they misled the employer, or the employer misled them, they have nothing but resentment against each other. In what case are these things said? When they [the workers] did not go [to work]. But if ass drivers went and did not find produce, or if workers went and found the field while it was waterlogged, the employer gives them their wages in full. [Translation by Uri L’Tzedek. Edited for gender neutrality]