looks like tough times for some people as for me my hour have been put through a blender i might as well be working part time now

It all depends really.... on the company itself.  If its a small family run business and you have worked there for some time and are really good friends with the people that run it... I would work for free or a bit of a less wage.  But if its a big company that employees a lot of people, then no-way.

And if you work in a factory, were the managment doesn't respect you or your fellow workers, then no-way as well.

I\d expect employers to line up to take me on.. but I have the hardest time getting a job, it's really bad... My current boss asked me to take the days off which I do... with vacation pay this will be my last month of salary so I\m not in a good position.

I'd gladly take an underpaid job merely for experience and income now. For free would not be a viable option for me but I'd keep it on untill I would find new work.

Yeah, I might keep working or I might not, depending on various factors, but I would definitely start looking for another job. Nothing would suck harder than accepting a month's work without pay, then finding your job no longer exists at the end of that month.

As I mentioned in another thread, I would be more amenable to a pay cut than a month without pay. At least if the company goes under after that month, I get to keep something for my efforts.

I would get a new job. Simply because the company I work for hasn't laid off a single person (except for performance reasons) and typically hires ~10 people every year just in our division. My field is relatively recession proof, so I'd simply find a another job.

Now, if I wasn't so fortunate, I would do something similar to NJ5. No reason to out right quit, but I would start looking for another job right away at a more viable company.

As for how long I would work. The max would be 1 month, because after that my financial situation would really start hurting. I could last longer, but why break the bank at a company that isn't paying you.

Taking a pay cut equal to 1 months worth of wages is worse over the long run assuming the company recovers and continues to hand out raises. Let's say you get a 5% raise every year. It would take 2 rounds of raises to get yourself back to pre-paycut wages. You won't make back the wages you lost for ~4 years, let alone the money lost because your wages are lower than they should be.

If you worked for 1 month without pay, two years later you already made all the money you lost back, plus the following year you are making a lot more money.

Working the 1 month without pay is more beneficial, but you are betting on the company surviving and also that it will continue to give out raises every year. If the raises are lower than 5%, then just extend how long it takes to make your money back but it is always worse in the long run for the guy who took the paycut.

Which is better depends on your values. I value options with a lower risk, a better worst-case scenario, and more stability, even if the expected value of the riskier option is higher.

People are forgetting.... with the big companys that ask staff to work for free.  The management earn alot more than the worker on the shop floor, its ok for them to take a months pay cut as their earn maybe 5x or more your wage and it won't affected them.  Unlike the shop floor worker that struggles on min wage but still has to feed his/her family.

The boss at british airways as forgone a months wage which is like £60,000 UK pounds a month ($80,000 US dollar i guest) but some staff at BA are working for free  The BA boss is sorted for life but the workers are not.

I *might* go a week, but after that, if they don't pay me I don't work.

My brother worked for months with the promise of pay and I know other people that have worked for free with the promise of being paid and they never did.

I think it happen at Kwik save supermarket chain in UK (2007) before it when into administration.  The staff were working for free for weeks on end to save the company but the company still when under.  Not sure even if the staff got paid after all that....  the staff weren't even allow to take food home to feed their familys (even tho the stores are big supermarkets full of food).

A friend of mine worked at a local kwik save at the time in between jobs, when he was told about it, he just walked out and never returned.

He did tell me some of workers at his store were semi-retired/retired people and most of them stayed on helping out.