May I give my employees pointless work to keep them busy?
The Torah enjoins us against tormenting an eved ivri (Jewish slave) with avodas perech (backbreaking labor); this includes giving the slave avodah she’ein lah kitzvah (work with no discernible end), or work that serves no real purpose other than keeping him occupied. This raises the question whether an employer who sees that his employees are idling may assign them pointless work in order to keep them busy; does the prohibition of avodas perech apply in a work environment as well?
The halachah is that, based on the fact that an employee always has the option of refusing to work and/or quitting, as well as on the statements of many Rishonim that this prohibition applies only to slaves, it would be permissible to assign useless tasks in the workplace if it’s for the purpose of maintaining a good work ethic.
However, according to a minority opinion that an employee is deemed “acquired” by the employer, thus according him a status akin to an eved ivri, there is room for being stringent and refraining from assigning work without an inherent purpose. Certainly, it's middas chassidus (pious behavior) not to assign avodas perech to an employee. In fact, it’s middas chassidus to treat even an eved kna’ani (non-Jewish slave) with the same degree of dignity that we would expect to be treated. #505โ
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