58 – The Laws of Paying Wages / Chapter Ten

H. A person who hired two workers but only has enough money to pay one of them – if one of them is an’ani(a poor person), he takes precedence over the other worker, whether the other worker is well-off or anevyon(a destitute person). [The difference between an’aniand anevyonis that anevyonis someone who has already become accustomed to asking for alms and is not embarrassed to do so; an’aniis embarrassed to ask, which is why he comes first.]

If one worker is well-off and the other an evyon, the evyon comes first.

I. If both are poor or bothevyonim, both are equal, even if one of them is a relative of the employer.