Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy 24:15/אור החיים על דברים כ״ד:ט״ו

1 ואליו הוא נושא את נפשו, "and his life depends on it." The Torah tells us that although paying a labourer late is at worst only a sin comparable to robbery, the penalty the Torah has in mind for the employer is as if he had committed a capital crime. When the Torah writes יהיה בך חטא "for it shall remain a sin against you," this is similar to what we find in Kings I 1,21 "and I and my son will remain sinners." In this instance the Torah first gave the reason for the penalty of the employer when it wrote: ואליו הוא נושא את נפשו "for he is risking his life for it," i.e. the penalty too will be that applicable when one had taken someone else' life.