The following is not meant to be legal advice.
On December 13, 2007, Perkins Coie, LLP in Menlo Park, CA hosted a talk on employment law. The talk began with a conversation on wages and hours. Employees must be paid minimum wage. Even when an employee says that he/she will work for stock, it is not enforceable. This means Steve Jobs accepting $1 pay is illegal. However, if there are no complaints on the matter, life can go on without anyone finding out about the illegality of the situation.
If there is some mistreatment of the employee, the employer who does not pay the employee for his/her time should be wary of the employee filing a complaint with the Department of Labor. Employers should be aware that employees sometimes overlook poor work conditions if they think that they are treated with respect. It is when they feel some level of hurt that they then look to enforce the law.

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