- Is the non-Jew working on Shabbat because the Jewish owner encouraged him to do so?
- Is the Jewish owner profiting directly from the work being done on Shabbat?
- Will others in the community suspect that the work is actually being done by the Jew or by the non Jew at the Jew's request?
If the answer to any of the above is yes - then you should be closing up shop for Shabbat, but depending on the specifics, there is room to be lenient.
An interesting application of this halacha that I came across is with regards to a Jewish-owned website that is open for e-commerce on Shabbat. Is this allowed? Should the Jew close down the website on Shabbat because of any of the aforementioned concerns?
I think that although the actual transaction is automatic, there is no real way to assure the e-customers that no one is actively processing the transaction on the other side. So if it is clear that the site is owned by a Jew, it is probably best to close the site for Shabbat or at least make it clear that nothing is actively happening for those 24 hours. This article on "The Internet and Halacha (in Hebrew) suggests offering the option to retract any transaction made on Saturday until after Shabbat to drive this point home to the customer.
Also keep in mind that there might be other issues related to operating a web-business that is open on Shabbat... I am still looking into it myself and maybe we'll elaborate more another time. But still interesting to note that this seemingly irrelevant set of halachot has some very modern applications (even on a national scale)...
