Has anyone thought of asking for less then minimum wage to get a job?

I have been thinking of asking for less then minimum wage to get a job. I have been out of work for so long now. I have to do something to get a job. I have sold everything I can to feed my kids. I was thinking of asking for $5.00 a hour to start. But in all reality I would work for $1.00 a hour. Dose anyone think this is a good ideal? Or am I just grasping at straws? I would really like to hear what you all think.

You know that will be illegal, so I suggest that you go to the areas where they hired illegal immigrants and wait for the truck to come and load workers for the day.

Trust me you will be making a lot more than minimum wages and don't even have to file income tax on the wages as they pay cash.

Good luck!!!!!

Why would it be illegal? And I am a woman. A 42 yrs woman at that. I really don't think they would take me over a younger man for those kind of jobs.

I live off a fixed income from the VA(medically retired military).

it's not allot, and i don't qualify for Social security. working can be difficult for me, but in essence yeah I would work for less then minimum wage to get to a little extra income to supplement what I make to help ends meet sometimes...

Originally posted by Sistinas
Why would it be illegal? And I am a woman. A 42 yrs woman at that. I really don't think they would take me over a younger man for those kind of jobs.

Uhhhh...because the government sets a minimum wage. The government also requires income reporting, which means the employer would either have to lie about how much you work or how much he paid you. No reasonable employer would risk the lawsuits.

You must have some skills, what are they? So you live in a small town or a large metro area?

Sistinas Is illegal to pay minimum wage under the national minimum wages act.

Businesses have to provide prof of employment to submit for taxes on income that is how they will now that you have been under pay.

We have here in GA illegal immigrants that works in he fields and they are both female and males.

They get pay more than minimum wages still but they don't have to file for taxes as they get pay under the table.

Minimum wage and statutory pay obligations

It is illegal to pay less than the National Minimum Wage so you need to be clear about your responsibilities as an employer if you are going to minimize disruption to your business and prevent disputes arising.

www.icaew.com...

[edit on 29-12-2008 by marg6043]

reply to post by Sistinas

Back in the 80's I found my calling to become a Blacksmith after seeing a book in the library(Thanks ALOT Roy U.).A few months later I found myself riding bike twenty miles each way to earn $.75 per hook (and a meal)in the nearest shop.At first the wage was pretty low as I learned.Alot lower than a buck an hour,plus I helped for free on other things just for the experience.Young and dumb,I suppose,but I didn't feel screwed until my production level went way past that of the shop owner and he had a hard time believing my records and balked at paying.I don't take too kindly to being falsely accused,so I quit.He eventually paid up and still hopes I'll do some work for him...Now I am still struggling,but making it.The hardest part is knowing all the people I am in competition with who have help from family.None for moi,just ridicule."Blacksmith!?! What do you do now?Shoe horses?"No I'm keeping low technology alive and well so when TPTB have looted the treasury on their way out and left a huge stinking pile of poo for an economy we might not all have to go back to stone age starvation.There are opportunities out there.Like,can you walk on backs?A good adjustment is worth $40.There are laws restricting all this stuff,of course."Perseverance furthers"Just don't give up hope,just makes it harder to see opportunity when it comes along.''Poverty is a chill which never leaves your bones.''

Minimum wage laws are, like many well meaning liberal ideas, a really bad idea. It sounds great to talk about how nobody should make less than this and how poor people cannot feed their kids, etc. But like many of these well intended ideas, there are unintended consequences. Many people like yourself who want to work cannot find work because of these types of laws.

Just a few years ago my company would hire any teenage kid who wanted a summer job. Lots of people who work for my company would have their kids work in our warehouse for the summer. But it is a lot more expensive today so now we only hire those that we absolutely need. In this case we dropped down from an average of 10 kids for the summer to 1.

There are many other examples of the unintended consequences of well meaning liberal ideas such as "affordable housing for all" but I guess that is another topic.

- PM

Just saw something over the weekend. A young man talking about being in a homeless shelter. He wrote a book called Scratch Beginnings. The advice he got from someone was to go back to a place he had applied to and tell the owners he would be the BEST furniture mover ever. He also said he would work for a day for free so the owner could see how he worked. The man hired him. Not because he was the best furniture mover but because he liked his work ethic and attitude. Hope this encourages you.

I have had 3 jobs in my life that I worked at for less then Minimum Wage, and payed taxes while working those jobs. 2 jobs payed $2.11 a hour and one was for $1.00 a hour. So why did the government not go after those company? It clearly stated what my wage was on my taxes papers. and fyi its the middle of winter here. No crops to pick.

What have you tried to get a job so far?

Grocery stores and fast-food are almost always hiring. You could try there. They pay minimum, sometimes a dollar or two more. Then if you are in a big-city area there are probably some type of phone work around that would pay you enough to get by.

And I have to ask, how do you have interned still if you have sold everything to feed your kids and want to work for $1?

reply to post by Sistinas


So, you're willing to work for the next best thing to slave labor? Don't you think that your actions would also undermine every other worker in your country? Perhaps relocating to China to make Nike's in a sweatshop would be a good idea?

IRM

Minimum wage is there to protect workers, and it's still way too low to make ends meet. Working for less makes a lot of trouble for a lot of people; I worked in Canada for 16 years as a Graphics Designer and I had a great reputation. People I didn't know asked for my services all the time. But as more and more designers came onto the market, employers realized they could get designers for less money. I ended up without work for five years; employers don't care about quality of work anymore. I got back in the workplace by accepting a minimum wage job (my last job in the field payed 3 times less than my first job, as a beginner). Eventually I quit the field completely.

Accepting to work for less money equals exploitation, pure and simple. Not just for you, but for everyone else in your field. Then it goes on to related fields...

There are certainly other things you can do to work. You might think of going into business for yourself, some kinds of businesses require little to no financial backing. You might not make that much the first couple of years, but it will still be better than working below minimum wage. And who's going to exploit you if you're the boss?

reply to post by Sistinas




Were you a waitress in those jobs? If you work a job where tips are paid, then the employer doesn't have to pay min wage. I don't know the exact law on that, but it's there.

Also, the job where you say that you worked for $1 per hour, what year was this?

reply to post by InfaRedMan


I am willing to for my kids not to starve. If it means I work for a $1.00 a hour I will. I haven't eaten in 3 days, I got 2 days worth of food left for my kids.My rent is due on the first. I haven't got it. They turned my gas of a month ago do to not paying it. I don't own a car. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. And really if I had the money to go to China and work in a sweatshop. Then why would I be willing to work for a dollar a hour?

reply to post by elevatedone


Yes the $2.11 jobs was for waitress, and it was in the 80's. The $1.00 hour job was a dish washer in 1994.

reply to post by Sistinas

Lemme be the first to tell ya,if you are not eating your brain slows down and you can't think clearly,much as the well fed cat is a superior mouser.Food stamps,emergency assistance is available hereabouts,food banks,churches all would be appalled to hear of your plight.Where's daddy-o?Things are rough,someone who you know can help but you can't stall.There is perfectly good food thrown away all the time behind stores and restaurants.Comin up with rent is harder.

Originally posted by Sistinas
reply to post by InfaRedMan

 

I am willing to for my kids not to starve. If it means I work for a $1.00 a hour I will. I haven't eaten in 3 days, I got 2 days worth of food left for my kids.My rent is due on the first. I haven't got it. They turned my gas of a month ago do to not paying it. I don't own a car. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. And really if I had the money to go to China and work in a sweatshop. Then why would I be willing to work for a dollar a hour?

That statement bothers me. You must eat... something. I'm sure there's a soup kitchen or a church or other charity that would be more than happy to help you out, have you asked?

Just curious, if you have no food, no money and no gas in your home, how do you afford the interent?

reply to post by Sistinas


Have you thought about making things to sell? A bit of research may give you some ideas,

Do some online surveys for some vouchers, Every little helps

Go to car boot sales and eBay any good stuff you get, books can bring in a good deal if you research on what people want,

There's always the world's oldest profession...

Seriously though, there are too many government programs designed to provide for the truly destitute, especially ones with children, for me to buy this story. I don't believe your kids are 2 days away from going without food unless you've taken some sort of stance against accepting handouts.