Q: My organization does not have sufficient funds to cover the entire payroll, other bills, and necessary purchases and orders. Is there a priority of payment?

A: A person is expected to pay all his monetary debts in a timely manner when he is able to. If he is unable to, covering the payroll takes a certain priority over other debts, since delaying payment of wages entails additional prohibitions. If utilizing all the available funds for payroll will cause penalties or further loss on other obligations, a Rav should be consulted, since the additional prohibitions may not apply in many organizational or corporate situations.If an employer has funds to cover the payroll only partially, there is a priority to pay a needy employee over a wealthy one, even if the wealthy employee approached the employer first for his salary. If both employees are of the same status, the employer should divide available funds fairly between the two. There is a dispute whether this means equally or by percent, proportional to the various salaries; the common local practice is also relevant. There is no priority given to an employee who is a relative, even though such a priority exists regarding distribution of charity (Ahavas Chesed 10:8-10; see C.M. 104:10 and Aruch Hashulchan 104:15).