The 238th prohibition is that we are forbidden from withholding and delaying payment of a hired worker's wages.
The source of this prohibition is G‑d's statement1 (exalted be He), "Do not let a worker's wages remain with you overnight until morning."
When does this verse apply? If he is a day worker he collects his wages the following night, as the verse says, "until morning." If he is a night worker he collects his wages during that night or the following day. He must receive his wages by the time the sun sets, as it is written,2 "You must give him his wage on the day it is due, and not let the sun set with him waiting for it."
In the words of the Mishneh:3 "A day worker can collect his wages the following night and that a night worker can collect his wages the following day."
They4 do not count as two mitzvos, but are rather two prohibitive statements that complete one mitzvah, i.e., from these two prohibitive statements we know when he must be paid.
The details of this mitzvah are explained in the 9th chapter of tractate Bava Metzia. There it is explained that this prohibition applies only to a hired worker who is Jewish — that if one delays paying him, he transgresses the prohibition. However, if the worker is not Jewish,5 one violates only the positive commandment6 "You must give him his wage on the day it is due."
