Reuven was aware that I was interested in selling some property and suggested Shimon as a potential buyer. We are about to close the deal and I wish to pay Reuven for facilitating this deal. I know that there are halachic obligations concerning paying workers on time.

Q: May I delay my payments for a few days, which would be more convenient for me?

A: You are correct that there are Biblical obligations to pay salaried workers and contractors upon the completion of their work (C.M. 339:3-6). The issue in your question is the status of a broker. Certainly, if one instructs a broker to act on his behalf, he becomes an employee and must be paid on time. However, if a broker suggests a deal on his own initiative, his does not have employee status, since he was never instructed to work for the employer. The obligation to pay this broker is for the benefit he provided to the buyer/seller, since one is obligated to pay for financial benefits provided by another person’s efforts (C.M. 264:4; Gra 264:13, 185:13). This obligation is a debt rather than a salary (see Ketzos 75:13), and as such, it is not subject to either the mitzvah to pay an employee on time or the prohibition against delaying payments to an employee (see also Pischei Teshuvah 89:2 for another reason that a broker is exempt from these obligations).

It must be emphasized that even if the prohibition against delaying timely payment for an employee does not apply, there is a general prohibition against delaying payment of a debt when one has the funds to repay that debt — bal tash’heh (C.M. 97:3, 339:7).

The distinction between the specific prohibition against delaying timely payments of an employee and the general prohibition against delaying payment of a debt is whether one is obligated to exert himself to make a timely payment. One is obligated to exert himself to pay an employee on time, but one is not obligated to exert himself to pay a debt (B.M. 111a; Tosafos s.v. “amar” and “Maharshal”).

In summary, if at any time you instructed Reuven to act as a broker on your behalf, you are obligated to exert yourself to pay him on time. If Reuven acted on his own volition, your obligation to pay him stems from the general prohibition against delaying payment of a debt, but if paying on time would be difficult for you, payment may be delayed.