Verse 8.215 [Non-Payment of Wages]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

भृतो नार्तो न कुर्याद् यो दर्पात् कर्म यथोदितम् ।
स दण्ड्यः कृष्णलान्यष्टौ न देयं चास्य वेतनम् ॥ २१५ ॥

bhṛto nārto na kuryād yo darpāt karma yathoditam |
sa daṇḍyaḥ kṛṣṇalānyaṣṭau na deyaṃ cāsya vetanam || 215 ||

If a hireling, without being ill, does not perform the stipulated work, through arrogance,—he should be fined eight ‘Kṛṣṇalas,’ and should not receive his wages.—(215)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The man who does a stipulated work for a stipulated amount of wages is what is meant by the term ‘hireling’ here; i.e., the man who has been engaged to do a certain service, and who has agreed to do it within a definite time, if he is paid ‘five rupees’ (for instance), if such a person does not finish the work, he should be fined eight ‘kṛṣṇala’—of gold, or of silver, or of copper, in accordance with the nature of the work and other circumstances; and he should not receive the said rupees, which had been fixed as his wages.

But this applies to a case where the man is not ill, and omits to do the stipulated work, ‘through arrogance.’ That is, the fine and the loss of wages are to be inflicted only upon the man who is not suffering from any illness, and who omits to do the work through sheer arrogance; so that it is not open to the man to retort—‘Pay me an amount commensurate with the labour already incurred by me.’

Some people hold that this same penalty is to be inflicted upon priests who leave off their work at their own will.

But this is not right; in the case of a sacrificial performance, the loss to the sacr ifi cer, caused by the rites being only half-done, is very great, so that the penalty in this ease should also be heavy; all that the sacrificer has lost should he made good, and the man should also compensate for the physical suffering involved in the saerificer having to repeat, the preliminary rites of the ‘Dīkṣā,’ the ‘Upasad’ and the ‘Devavrata.’

In a case where a mechanic approaches the rich man and urges him to undertake the digging of a tank, or the building of a temple, with the promise that he would supervise the work and see that it is completed, but subsequently slips off, then he should” make good all the loss of money and energy that his employer may have suffered; and thus according to the law of the ‘trader and the carrier,’ this law has been propounded by Kātyāyana as being applicable to all cases: in his Sutra, be says—‘If, through the fault of the carrier, the trader suiters some loss, it shall be borne by the carrier,—and so also the man who, having urged a man to invest his money on some undertaking, slinks off, after the work has been only half-done.’ Here ‘investing’ means applying t he money to the work; and one who makes the man do this, should make good the loss; such is the sense of the passage.

The law laid down in the verse applies to the person who is engaged on fooding only, for six months, or one year, to do a specified work. Says Nārada—‘If a man does not do the stipulated work, he should be forced to receive his wages and do it; if he receives the wages, but does not do the work, he should suffer double the amount received in wages; if he abandons the work before the end of the stipulated time, he deserves to lose his wages.’—(215)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Kṛṣṇala’—‘Of gold, silver or copper, according to the nature of the case’ (Medhātithi and Govindarāja); Kullūka also has ‘suvarṇādi’, ‘gold and others’, and not ‘gold’ only. Buhler has misrepresented him.

This verse is quoted in Mitākṣarā’ (2.198);—in ‘Vyavahāramayūkha’ (p. 92);—in Parāśaramādhava (Vyavahāra, p. 233), which notes that this is meant for a case where the hired man has left the work half undone; if he has done more than half, then only the wages have to be withheld (and there is to be no fine);—in Aparārka (p. 797), which notes that he should not receive the wages of even that part of the work which he may have done and in Kṛtyakalpataru (102a), which explains ‘anārtaḥ’ as not suffering from any disability imposed either by royal command or by supernatural causes.

 

Comparative notes by various authors

(verses 8.215-217)

Āpastamba (2.28.2-3).—‘A servant in tillage who abandons his work shall be flogged. The same punishment shall be inflicted on a herdsman leaving his work.’

Viṣṇu (5.153-154).—‘A hired workman who abandons his work before the term has expired shall pay the whole amount of the stipulated wages to his employer; and he shall pay 100 Paṇas to the King.’

Yājñavalkya (2.193-198).—‘If a workman abandons his work after having received his wages, he shall refund double the amount received by him. If he abandons it before he has received any wages, he should pay to the employer the amount of the stipulated wages; but workmen may be allowed to retain their tools. If the employer has engaged a workman without settling his wages, he should be made by the King to pay the tenth part of the profit that he may have made in trade, in cattle or in agriculture, through the labours of that workman. In a case where the workman has worked beyond the stipulated time and place,—if this additional work decreases the profits of the employer, the latter may give him such wages as he likes for this additional work; but if it has tended to increase his profits, he shall give more. A man shall be paid his wages in accordance with the amount of work done: and neither party shall be stingy (of labour or payment); if the workman is sparing in his labour, he shall receive only what the employer may give him. In the case of a carrier, if he destroys the articles he is carrying, through neglect,—and not through any act of God or of the King—he should be made to replace it; if the employer puts obstacles in the way of his starting, he shall pay double the amount of the stipulated wages. If the carrier abandons the work after he has just started, he should be made to pay the seventh part of the stipulated wages; the fourth part, if he abandons it on the way; the whole of it if he abandons it after going half way of the journey. If the employer dismisses the carrier, he should be made to pay in the same proportion.’

Nārada (5.22).—‘Hired servants are of three kinds: highest, middlemost and lowest; the wages due for their labour are fixed in proportion to their skill and to the value of their services.’

Do. (6.2, 3, 5-9).—‘A master shall regularly pay wages to the servant hired by him, whether it be at the commencement, at the middle, or at the end of his work, just as he had agreed to do. When the amount of the wages has not been fixed, the servant of a trader, a herdsman and an agricultural labourer shall take a tenth part of the profit derived from the trade, the product of the cows and of the grain respectively. If one fails to perform such work as he had promised to do, he shall be compelled to perform it, after first paying him the wages. If he does not perform it after receiving the wages, he must pay back twice the amount of the wages received. One who abandons merchandise which he had agreed to convey to its destination, shall give a sixth part of the wages. An employer who does not pay the wages that he had agreed to give shall forfeit those wages together with interest. A merchant who does not take a conveyance or beasts for draught of burden, after having hired them, shall be made to pay a fourth part of the hire, and the whole, if he leaves them half-way. And so shall a earner who fails to transport the goods entrusted to him forfeit his wages. He shall be compelled to pay twice the amount of his wages if he raises difficulties at the time of starting. When the merchandise has been damaged by the carrier’s fault, he shall have to make good every loss,—not including such losses as may have been caused by fate (accident) or by the King.’

Bṛhaspati (16.8-20).—‘The servant for gain or pay is declared to be of many sorts; another is servant for a share of the grain...—A servant engaged for a day, a month, half-month, a six-month, two months, or a year, must do the work which he promised to do and receive the stipulated wages. A servant for a share of the grain is of two kinds—serving either a husbandman or an owner of cattle; ho shall receive a share of the grain produced, or of the milk; a third or fifth of the produce shall be given to the cultivator of the soil as his share. Let that cultivator to whom food and clothing are given take a fifth part of the crops; and let him who serves in consideration of the profit take a third part of the grain produced. Should a hired servant fail in the performance of ever so small a part of his employer’s work, he forfeits his wages, and may be sued in court for his offence. When a servant does not perform his work after having received his wages, though he is able to work,... he shall be compelled to pay twice as much as his wages as a fine to the King, and to refund the wages to the employer. he who has promised to do work and does not perform it, shall he compelled to do so by forcible means even; and if, through obstinacy, such a servant should still not do it as engaged for, he shall be fined eight Kṛṣṇalas, and his wages shall not he given to him. When a servant commanded by his employer does any improper act for the benefit of his employer, the latter shall be held responsible for it. When a master does not pay wages for the labour stipulated, after the work has been performed, he shall be compelled by the King to pay it, and a proportionate fine besides. A man hired for attendance on milch cows shall receive the whole milk every eighth day.’