630. Parameters for Contracting a Long-Term Worker

Shabbos 6:13

The rule in 6:12 (about a non-Jewish contractor doing work for a Jew on Shabbos) only applies when the arrangement is discreet and it is not common knowledge that the work is being performed on Shabbos for a Jew. If the situation is widely known, then the non-Jewish contractor may not perform the Jew’s work on Shabbos. This is because one who sees the non-Jew working for the Jew doesn’t know that he has been hired on a long-term contract. He will simply assume that the Jew hired a non-Jew to work for him on Shabbos.

Shabbos 6:14

Therefore, if a Jew hires a non-Jew to build a courtyard or a wall, or to harvest a field, or to plant a vineyard for a year or two, if the work is within the city or its Shabbos boundary (techum), the Jew may not allow the non-Jewish employees to work on Shabbos because observers will not know the details of their arrangement. If the work is outside the city’s Shabbos boundary, it is permitted because there are no Jews to misconstrue the workers’ labor on Shabbos.