Deuteronomy 24:15 - "you shall give him his hire on the day he earns it, before the sun goes down (for he is poor, and sets his heart upon it); lest he cry against you to the Lord and it be sin in you."

Matthew 20:1 - "For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard."

In every city there were many people who worked by the day. If we read the entire parable of the householder, from which our text is taken (Matthew 20:1-16), we will find mention of this common sight. These people gathered in the public market places to seek employment; some were porters, who carried heavy loads from place to place; some were mason’s assistants, who carried the stones from the quarry to the wall; a few carried their pickaxe and hoe with them, to be ready if anyone should wish to hire them to assist in the fields; many were willing to cut wood for the ovens.

These day laborers stood in groups waiting to be hired for the day; if there was no job available, they and their families went hungry. It is a little considered fact, but we can say that our text from Deuteronomy was possibly the first social legislation in all human history; and it established the principle of man’s necessity to care for his less fortunate brother. Of course, as with all noble considerations and lofty ideals, the Hebrews often fell short of this principle, but, nevertheless, it was a statute of which they might be justly proud.

By the time of Christ, the rabbis had given a great deal of consideration to the working man and they had scrupulously laid down the conditions under which the workers were to be fed, housed and clothed; they had set the hours of work and the forms of payment for those who were hired by the hour or the half-day, and they had always stressed the fact that any man who injured a wage-earner transgressed "five commandments of the Torah."

The workers did not only have rights; religious doctrine imposed duties upon them too. The Bible required, as St. Paul reminded them, that they should respect their masters, obey them and serve them faithfully. The rabbis had some excellent moral tales in which exemplary workmen were held up to be admired.

For example, one day the rabbi Joseph, who was a mason, was on his scaffolding when a man below him called up, asking for advice on a religious question. "Wait until this evening," replied Joseph. "I cannot come down: I am paid by the day and I may not give a minute that belongs to my master away." And the rabbi Hilkia, who was a surveyer, gave the same answer to some people who came and begged him to teach them a prayer that would make the rain fall.

Today we have the many employment agencies who handle temporary workers; these people are on virtual call for fill-in work in a given situation. They too are paid by the day or the hour, and have certain legal rights. Or, we might also include the permanent workers in many situations who are paid by the hour, rather than on a set wage. They too have rights which employers sometimes neglect, but they have also the obligation to serve to the best of their abilities, and this is an obligation that they sometimes neglect. There are rights and obligations on both sides!