Richard S. Rheins employer.

Maimonides codified a worker’s right to“swear and take” in his Mishneh Torah®® and he also confirmed the Jewish sensitivity to be especially lenient with workers:

A laborer who takes an oath is not to be treated with

strictness, and no other ancillary oath(gilgul

shevu’ah) may be required. He swears only that he did

not receive his wages and he is to be paid. All others

who take the oath are not to be treated with leniency.

Only the laborer is so treated, and the court takes the

initiative for him by saying to him:“Do not have

qualms. Swear and take.”*’

The extraordinary protection granted to hired workers(poelim as opposed to kabblan, independent contractors,’ was in recognition of their vulnerabilities. As Menachem Elon wrote:“The time factor in the hire of a servant has the effect of tying him to his work for fixed hours during which he cannot choose not to work, whereas the independent contractor may work as and when it pleases him. Hence an element of slavery attaches to a hired servant, while a contractor“is not a slave except unto himself”** In effect, the contractor or skilled craftsman is his own boss. His own initiative and work ethic will determine his financial security. On the other hand, the hired worker is subject to the whims of employers and this vulnerability reminded our ancestors of the anguish of slavery. Accordingly, the rabbis instituted protections to shield the workers from unscrupulous employers. The sages maintain:“The worker has the upper hand.”* What this means is that an employer cannot make a worker work against his will and the worker has the right to quit even in the middle of a job.* This principle is based on the exegesis of“For unto me the children of Israel are slaves, they are My slaves whom I brought forth out of the of Egypt ; I am the Lord you God ”(Lev. 25:55). To which the Gemara concludes“They are my servants, not the servants of